Scottie Pippen says he was 'LeBron James before LeBron James'

[Alsacs]

Pippen was a Mike Dunleavy/Trailblazer meltdown in the 4th Q of the 2000 WCF Game 7 with Portland against the Lakers from a likely 7th NBA title.

Pippen could have a won a title without MJ. He is a top 25 player of all-time. His defense, passing were HOF level good. He still scored a lot of points while deferring to Michael Jordan. If Jerry Krause didn't screw him by not giving him an extension with better money after underpaying him his entire Chicago career Jordan may have played another year or two.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

I wish more retired players were like Sandy Koufax.

Jewish?

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Ben Vereen was Pippin before Pippen was Pippen.

 

[cuseattle]

Jewish?

Sorry, bro! I did go to high school on long island for a couple years, and most of my best friends were.. Non practicing Catholic. I did love the greatest American hero William Katt playing Pippin,

 

[MikeSU02]

lebron is def in the top

Pippen was incredible. Also worth pointing out Jordan didn't win any titles without Pippen. (I know, i know, just saying)

Pippen was the man in 1994.

Pippen is arguably the greatest wing defender in history and also arguably the best point forward.

He's definitely a top 25 player.

I will defend Pippen til a D I E.

 

[Knicks411]

Pippen is arguably the greatest wing defender in history and also arguably the best point forward.

He's definitely a top 25 player.

I will defend Pippen til a D I E.

Does Lebron not count as a point forward?

 

[MikeSU02]

Does Lebron not count as a point forward?

Yeah, I guess I'll concede that. I think you can make an argument for Bird as well. Either way, it's a great group to included in.

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

I feel like people are always looking to compare Lebron to either MJ or Magic, but I think a better version of Pippen is actually the best comparison there is. I hope for Scottie's sake that he hasn't lost his mind and knows that while Lebron is probably a Top 3-5 player ever, Scottie is more in the 20-30 range.

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015...-says-he-was-lebron-james-before-lebron-james

Scottie Pippen was Paul George before Paul George was Paul George. A good player who can only be considered one of the greats because of 6 rings he had tremendous help in winning, and a long, injury free career.

 

[Knicks411]

Scottie Pippen was Paul George before Paul George was Paul George. A good player who can only be considered one of the greats because of 6 rings he had tremendous help in winning, and a long, injury free career.

Scottie Pippen was a lot better than Paul George. (At least Paul George so far). We're talking about a guy who was third in MVP voting the one full year MJ was out (and could have finished even higher).

If MJ doesn't have Pippen, then he doesn't win 6 rings. Not saying he wins 0, but Pippen was a great player.

 

[Eric15]

If MJ doesn't have Pippen, then he doesn't win 6 rings. Not saying he wins 0, but Pippen was a great player.

I'm happy to say it... if the Bulls have an average small forward instead of Scottie Pippen, they don't win a single ring (in my opinion).

 

[Knicks411]

I'm happy to say it... if the Bulls have an average small forward instead of Scottie Pippen, they don't win a single ring (in my opinion).

That's possibly true, but not sure it's totally fair; if you switched out the second best player on a lot of title teams they probably don't win it all. But even if you switched Pippen, who has to be one of the 25-30 best players ever, with someone closer to 50 or so, I think MJ has a few rings but I doubt it's six.

 

[Eric15]

That's possibly true, but not sure it's totally fair; if you switched out the second best player on a lot of title teams they probably don't win it all. But even if you switched Pippen, who has to be one of the 25-30 best players ever, with someone closer to 50 or so, I think MJ has a few rings but I doubt it's six.

I guess another way of wording what I meant... let's say that the Bulls made a bad draft pick and instead of taking Pippen (who evolved into a superstar) they drafted a guy like Billy Owens who turned out to be incredibly mediocre as a pro. In that scenario, I don't think the Bulls have enough firepower to get past those Knick/Blazer/Sun/Jazz teams of the early to mid 90s.

 

[OrangeDW]

I guess another way of wording what I meant... let's say that the Bulls made a bad draft pick and instead of taking Pippen (who evolved into a superstar) they drafted a guy like Billy Owens who turned out to be incredibly mediocre as a pro. In that scenario, I don't think the Bulls have enough firepower to get past those Knick/Blazer/Sun/Jazz teams of the early to mid 90s.

Agreed, though Billy Owens was good early in his career in Golden State. Injuries caught up to him quick and he became a mediocre player sooner than you would expect, but he was good those first few years.

 

[Shark58]

Pippen is Alex English w/D

 

[orangefan13]

One can argue MJ won 6 titles in a row and that was with a year break(where he left the sport or it may have been 7). Lebron gets to build his own teams practically with any player in the NBA and has won 2 and arguably was the second best player on the team in some playoff series. Neither did he Lebron have the PASSION to remain in Cleveland or Miami. Jordan did leave a year to take up another sport but he stuck with Chicago.

 

[Eric15]

Lebron gets to build his own teams practically with any player in the NBA and has won 2 and arguably was the second best player on the team in some playoff series.

Lebron was never the 2nd best player on his team at any point in his entire life.

 

[HOFCeluck]

One can argue MJ won 6 titles in a row and that was with a year break(where he left the sport or it may have been 7). Lebron gets to build his own teams practically with any player in the NBA and has won 2 and arguably was the second best player on the team in some playoff series. Neither did he Lebron have the PASSION to remain in Cleveland or Miami. Jordan did leave a year to take up another sport but he stuck with Chicago.

Let's play Count the #Hotsportstakes.

 

[MikeSU02]

Lebron was never the 2nd best player on his team at any point in his entire life.

I agree with you in the sense that overall he's been the best player on his team, looking at the season as a whole.

But in the 2011 Finals, Wade was absolutely better than him and it wasn't really close.

 

[two3zone]

I agree with you in the sense that overall he's been the best player on his team, looking at the season as a whole.

But in the 2011 Finals, Wade was absolutely better than him and it wasn't really close.

Wade had a huge finals, no doubt, but it's not like Lebron was bad, dude still averaged 18/7/7 and 2 steals a game.

 

[Eric15]

But in the 2011 Finals, Wade was absolutely better than him and it wasn't really close.

I just looked at the numbers and I stand corrected.

 

[MikeSU02]

Wade had a huge finals, no doubt, but it's not like Lebron was bad, dude still averaged 18/7/7 and 2 steals a game.

I promise you, watching it, Wade was much better. With that said, LeBron still had his usual incredible year. That was also before they changed the offense and Bron fully took over as the alpha on that team.

 

[two3zone]

I promise you, watching it, Wade was much better. With that said, LeBron still had his usual incredible year. That was also before they changed the offense and Bron fully took over as the alpha on that team.

Which they won two titles out of three chances.

 

[HOFCeluck]

If only he wasn't afraid to post up JJ Barea.

 

[Ringostar57]

connie hawkins would wipe the floor with Pippen

 

[Fireball Jr.]

connie hawkins would wipe the floor with Pippen

So would Andre Hawkins