OT: Scottie Pippen - No One's Sidekick (re: Naismith Memorial HOF Induction)

[ABM]

http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/08/scottie_pippen_no_ones_sidekic.html

Some sidekick.

If former NBA player Scottie Pippen was better known as the No. 2 man behind Chicago Bulls teammate Michael Jordan, you wouldn’t know it now.

The 17-year veteran will reach the highest of individual honors when he is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.

And when he’s presented for induction on Friday night, Pippen will have Jordan by his side yet again when he enters the Hall of Fame.

Pippen will be presented by his former Chicago Bulls teammate when he is inducted Friday night. Each inductee is presented by a current Hall of Famer. Jordan was enshrined last year.

“It means a lot to me,” Pippen told www.chicagobreakingnews.com about being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“It says I accomplished something in my life I wasn’t trying to accomplish. There’s a special group of people in the Hall of Fame. When you’re recognized as one of the greatest, it says a lot.

“This is a great moment. This is something that I never dreamed would happen to me as a player.”..............

 

[BlazerFanForLife]

but wait if he isn't Robin then why is Batman calling him onto the stage?

 

[ABM]

but wait if he isn't Robin then why is Batman calling him onto the stage?

Holy misguided acceptance speech!!

 

[BGrantFan]

I have been reading Bill Simmons' Book of Basketball, and I agree with how high he placed Pippen on his All-Time List.

 

[BlazerFanForLife]

I have been reading Bill Simmons' Book of Basketball, and I agree with how high he placed Pippen on his All-Time List.

Cool, I haven't... how high did he place Pippen?

 

[Rhal]

Cool, I haven't... how high did he place Pippen?

24th I believe

 

[JayJohnstone]

Hey -- I'm looking for a quote from Chuck Daly about Pippen being the 2nd best player on the dream team. My google foo is failing. If anyone remembers this or even better can find it, I would be greatly appreciative.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Hey -- I'm looking for a quote from Chuck Daly about Pippen being the 2nd best player on the dream team. My google foo is failing. If anyone remembers this or even better can find it, I would be greatly appreciative.

I wonder how many players he said that about that summer:

During the 1992 Olympics, Chuck Daly called Scottie his second-best player, describing him as the ultimate "fill-in-the-blanks guy."

"He called me over one day after practice," Barkley recalled, "and told me, 'I think you're the second-best player in the world.' "

Dude clearly knew how to manage egos.

 

[Idog1976]

I wonder how many players he said that about that summer:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/041101
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/09/AR2009050902196.html
Dude clearly knew how to manage egos.

I love how he never told anyone that they were the best. You know other then the GOAT. Yeah, he knew how to manage egos alright.

 

[Minstrel]

I wonder how many players he said that about that summer:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/041101
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/09/AR2009050902196.html
Dude clearly knew how to manage egos.

That's funny, but it's interesting how Pippen and Barkley were somewhat linked together. The year Jordan was playing baseball and Pippen was leading the Bulls (and won All-Star Game MVP, rocking the red high tops), there were reports that the Bulls and Suns were strongly considering a Pippen for Barkley swap.

So maybe Daly just wasn't sure who was #2.

 

[Minstrel]

A couple of articles I ran across about Pippen recently, which I think are dead on (excerpted with links).

Here's my five, and we're going to beat you.

I'm running Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan in the backcourt, Bill Walton in the pivot, and Bill Russell with Larry Bird at the forwards. There are better players at possibly four of the positions I've stocked around Jordan, but I don't care. This is my five, and we will beat yours.

And Scottie Pippen starts. Hell, Scottie Pippen brings the ball across half court. And Scottie Pippen is going to be the guy that holds it all together, on his way toward beating whatever hypothetical starting five you want to throw at this lot.

If this column gets too personal, well, this is something you're just going to have to tolerate. Because I've spent a lifetime watching this man play basketball, and I can't imagine another person I'd rather play ball alongside. Ask his teammates, far and wide. They hated life without him.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Scottie-Pippen-is-a-Hall-of-Famer?urn=nba-262303

Scottie Pippen will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, and quite simply, I loved watching that man play basketball.

To me, Scottie Pippen was the ultimate embodiment of team basketball, on both ends of the floor, and played with a physical grace that made him at least as aesthetically pleasing to watch as any player of his era, including his most famous teammate.

I consider Pippen to be greatest individual perimeter defender of all time, outstanding on the ball and even better as a help defender. And I can't lie, how you feel about Scottie Pippen is a referendum on how I feel about you as a basketball fan. If you don't think Pip was one of the 25 or so best players of all time, I don't think I want you in my life as a basketball fan.

That I even have to write those last couple sentences is a reflection that Pippen's legacy can be strangely polarizing to many fans, and that the particular moments and perceptions which stick in fans' heads can be unpredictable, and powerful forces in shaping their memories of players as a whole.

http://thepaintedarea.blogspot.com/2010/08/i-loved-watching-scottie-pippen-play.html

 

[Rastapopoulos]