One of the most underappreciated players in basketball history was enshirned in the Basketball Hall of Fame last weekend in Springfield, Mass. I’m talking about none other than Scottie Pippen, who came from a small NAIA school in Arkansas and rose to be the No. 2 man on the Chicago Bulls championship dynasty during the 1990’s.
Despite Pippen’s all-around brilliance on both ends of the court throughout his stellar career, I don’t think any one player has been downgraded or hated on as much as Pip, whose only basketball shortcoming was that he wasn’t born Michael Jordan.
There are so many great basketball minds who I respect very much, but seem to go completely brain-dead when the subject of Pippen comes up.
I’ve been in many an argument with friends and media colleagues alike trying to educate these lost souls on Pippen’s vast contributions to one of the greatest dynasties in professional sports.
However, I might as well be talking to the wall.
I hear the same tired old blather from the mouths of those who want to be uneducated and unenlightened.
“Oh, he’s just a Robin. He was never the main man. He was nothing without Michael Jordan. Blah, blah, blah.”
My favorite batch of ignorance came in the mid-1990s when Jordan retired briefly to pursue his baseball dreams and the Bulls couldn’t win a title. “You see, Pippen could not win a title without Jordan.”
Idiots. What team has ever lost the best player in the history of the game and went on to win a title in the next year? You could probably name Mark Messier and Edmonton in the NHL, but it would be a very short list.
Yawn, Snooze. Wake me when you come to some senses.
Here’s one small sample set of what Pippen did during his glorious career.
During the Bulls’ six championship seasons (1991-93, 96-98), they played a total of 112 games. In those 112 games, Pippen averaged 19.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game. He was also the Bulls’ point guard at 6’8″ who made sure everyone was involved in the offense. He was also the Bulls’ chief defensive stopper, who guarded everyone from 6’9″ Magic Johnson to 6’1″ John Stockton and everyone in between.
Scottie Pippen was the perfect No. 2 man to accompany Air Jordan. When you have such a dynamic personality as MJ in front, that’s a tough job to have. You really have to check your own ego at the door. Not anybody could have done it. There’s no shame in being the second-best player on a team that won six championships in an eight-year period.
Just think if LeBron James had had a Scottie Pippen riding shotgun. He’d have a couple of rings, and he’d still be in Cleveland instead of being in Miami to be Dwyane Wade’s Scottie Pippen.
Here’s to the new Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen. May all the haters gnash their teeth and choke on their disparaging words.
The Beal deal
Chaminade College Prep basketball star Bradley Beal continued his stellar summer of activity by enjoying a big weekend at the Nike Global Games in Hillsboro, Oregon. The eight-team tournament featured four teams from the USA and four international teams. Beal led the USA-Midwest team to a second-place finish. In three games, Beal scored 81 points to averaged 27 points a game. He scored 40 points in the championship game against the USA South team. Beal will conclude his summer by playing in the ESPN Rise Boost Mobile Elite 24 All-Star Game on Saturday, August 28 in Venice Beach, California. The game features 24 of the top prep players in the country regardless of class.
Gameface on
Congratulations to the St. Louis Gameface 17U boys basketball team on their fifth-place finish at the Amateur Athletic Union Nationals in Orlando, Florida. Gameface finished 8-2 at the AAU Nationals for their third consecutive Top 10 finish. The members of the team are B.J. Young (McCluer North), Dantiel Daniels (Holt), Curtis Churchman (Hazelwood Central), Brendan Kelly (Chaminade), Grant Wallace (John Burroughs), Givanni Ferrara (Chaminade), Ed Wanner (Chaminade), Dominic Kacich (CBC), Chris Noll (CBC) and Sean Carr (Imagine College Prep). STL Gameface was coached by former McKinley High and SLU star Roland Gray. Congrats on a great run.
(You can follow Earl Austin Jr. on his basketball website, www.earlaustinjr.com).
