50 Greatest Basketball Players Ever - 21 to 30 of the best NBA players ever

#25 Scottie Pippen

Scottie Pippen #33

I would say it suffices to talk about Pippen as the only reason the Bulls were 6-time champions in the 1990s. Drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in 1987 with the #5 overall pick, the Bulls traded for the young small forward in order to pair Michael Jordan with the kind of swingman that could take some of the pressure off his shoulders.

Taking a couple of years to reach his best, Pippen made his first All-Star game during his third season in the league, and the Bulls took reigning champions Detroit Pistons to 7 games in the Conference Finals. Pippen's unfortunate migraine meant that the Bulls lost the game despite MJ's efforts, but when fit and firing in the playoffs next year, Pippen and Jordan combined to sweep the two-time defending NBA Champions - the Bad Boys - en route to their first NBA title.

The 1991-92 season was statistically Pippen's best in a Bulls uniform, as he averaged 21.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.1 blocks per game as the Bulls went on to repeat in the NBA Finals, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 4-2.

His high-level play in the 1993 playoffs was a big reason why the Bulls were able to upstage the higher-seeded Phoenix Suns in the Finals by winning all 3 of their road games and becoming the first team since the 60s Celtics to win 3 titles in a row.

In MJ's absence in the season thereafter, the Bulls won a credible 55 games in the regular season as Pippen finished 3rd in MVP voting for the 1993-94 season. But their Conference Semis exit that season and their .500 record in the following season after Horace Grant's departure made life tough for Pippen as a first option.

Jordan's return to basketball from his 18 month hiatus sparked a revival in the Bulls' fortunes. Despite another playoff exit, the addition of Rodman to their roster bolstered the Bulls' championship contention as they won 2 back-to-back championships with a 141-23 regular season record over the 2 seasons.

The 1998 playoffs would turn out to be the toughest test for the Bulls through all their championship runs. The Pacers became one of the few teams to ever take them to 7 games in the Conference Finals, and they had ceded homecourt advantage to the Jazz in the Finals because of their inferior regular season record.

They still held the mental edge, though, and used it to great effect by winning a couple of close games in the series and edging it out 4-2. Severely underpaid by Jerry Reinsdorf during the Bulls' championship seasons, Pippen asked for a pay rise fit for a superstar playing at his level.

He got what he demanded with the Rockets, who he played with for 2 seasons before the Trail Blazers lured him away in their latest attempt to win a championship. 3 seasons at the fag end of his career done for the Blazers, Pippen made one last return to the Bulls in the 2003-04 season before hanging up his boots.

Pippen was one of the greatest defensive players of all time. He could legitimately guard 4 positions on the court because of his size and length, and he was an amazing team defender as well. But he really shone as a playmaker for those championship Bulls teams,