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Rockets, Bulls, Spurs: Championship caliber contracts: 1995-1999

By N.B. Lindberg

San Antonio Spurs players Sean Elliott (L), Mario Elie (C) and Tim Duncan watch from the bench as the Spurs lose to the New York Knicks during game three of the NBA Finals 21 June, 1999 at New York's Madison Square Garden. The Knicks won the game 89-81. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/ROBERT SULLIVAN (Photo by ROBERT SULLIVAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP via Getty Images)
San Antonio Spurs players Sean Elliott (L), Mario Elie (C) and Tim Duncan watch from the bench as the Spurs lose to the New York Knicks during game three of the NBA Finals 21 June, 1999 at New York's Madison Square Garden. The Knicks won the game 89-81. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/ROBERT SULLIVAN (Photo by ROBERT SULLIVAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Scottie Pippen, The Last Dance
NBA Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dani /

1997 NBA Champion: Chicago Bulls
Season Salary Cap: $24,363,000
Championship-Caliber Contract: Scottie Pippen

1997- Chicago Bulls: Scottie Pippen

Scottie Pippen: RSWS- 13.1, PSWS- 2.3 → Total: 15.4

Salary:$2,250,000

The ‘97 Bulls are the best there is. They have the best player in the league (Michael Jordan), the best contract (Scottie Pippen), the best 3-point shooter (Steve Kerr), the best rebounder (Dennis Rodman), and the best Croatian (Toni Kukoc). After a frenzy of expansion over the previous decade, from 1988 to 1995 the league went from 23 teams to 29 teams, rosters were watered down. To have a team this deep and this good was practically unfair and Scottie Pippen’s contract made it all possible.

Related Story. Every NBA team's Mount Rushmore. light

Pippen was All-NBA at the price of a third option, which allowed the Bulls to pay the sticker price to fill out the back of their roster around him and MJ. The Bulls’ depth was what separated them from the rest of the league. The Jazz, their Final’s opponent, probably had a better starting five, but their bench was nowhere near as good as the Bulls.

Pippen somehow made less in ’96-’97 than he did in ’95-’96 and produced the exact same number of Win Shares. With the cap growth between the two seasons, Pippen’s contract became even better. His 15.4 Win Shares were valued at $9.004 million, 36.9 percent of the cap, and his salary of $2.25 million took up a minuscule 9.2 percent of the cap. Scottie Pippen had a right to be angry about his compensation, especially when Michael Jordan earned $30.14 million! A figure that would have ranked as the 21st highest salary in the league in 2019-20.

Credit has to be given to Jerry Krause for finding the right guys but Scottie Pippen making a third of what he would have on the open market made it a much easier task. As the ‘97 Bulls capped off the season with another championship parade they were ending the most dominant two-year stretch in NBA history. While Pippen’s contract made the Bulls second dynasty possible, it would also sow the seeds to its abrupt end, only a year later.