Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 21 – Scottie Pippen
On NBA 50 at 50 List
Career: 1987 – 2004
Achievements: Six-time champion; All-NBA (7x); All-Star (7x); All-Defense (10x); seventh in all-time steals
Perhaps the best supporting actor in league history, Scottie Pippen was the Pippen to Michael Jordan’s Jordan…oh wait, that’s right they invented that saying. He was the perfect #2 to Jordan, though, an elite defender who generated steals and could attack as a secondary creator.
It’s not often discussed how good of a passer Pippen was, a necessity on a team where the point guard was mainly relegated to spot-up shooting while Jordan and Pippen handled the ball. He averaged 5.3 assists per game with Chicago, facilitating the offense when Jordan sat or took a rare possession off.
When Pippen got the chance to run the show himself, during Jordan’s first retirement, he finished third in MVP voting and led the Bulls to the playoffs. Late in his career, he was more of an ensemble member on the Portland Trail Blazers team that nearly beat the first Shaq/Kobe Lakers title team. Both times he proved he was not simply a product of Jordan’s partnership but an elite player in his own right.