HoopsHype.com Rumors

Jon Robinson: Are you glad Scottie Pippen made the list of 15? A lot of people still only see him as your sidekick. Do you think he deserves to be on a Top 15 list of influential players like this? Michael Jordan: Yeah, I'm very glad. When you think about what he's done, he was a part of every team where I won. He was an important part of that and people tend to forget that. You would never have seen Michael Jordan win a championship without Scottie Pippen and Scottie Pippen never won a championship without Michael Jordan. So the two of us are a tandem and he definitely stands up as one of the elite players to ever play the game. He's in my top five. He's on my team. If I had to pick five players to build a team, he's my small forward. ESPN.com

Charlotte Bobcats, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Videogames 

Bryant, who is reportedly considering signing with Italian powerhouse Virtus Bologna, may thrive, but the other players who are daring to head over are in for a shock. According to former NBA great Scottie Pippen and legendary clutch shooter Robert Horry, the stars of the 1990s would never have even dreamed of playing foreign basketball, and Pippen went as far as saying that the international hoops stage was beneath His Airness. "No. I could never see him going over," Pippen told the Daily News at the "NBA 2K12" video game release party in Manhattan. "Because of the status of the NBA at that time it was never any doubt that the NBA stage was the best stage, at that time." "I don't think any of those guys would have gone there," added Horry. "Overseas basketball wasn't as nice as it is now." New York Daily News

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Scottie Pippen, Italy, Robert Horry, Virtus Bologna 

The only player who will thrive in Europe? Bryant. "He speaks Italian," said Horry, who played with Bryant from 1996-2003. "I won't say he was born there, but he spent a lot of years there. That's almost like a second home. Of all the players you talk about, he'll be the one who's OK." Bryant's only struggle in Italy? He won't be able to curse at referees in Italian. But Horry doesn't think that will be a problem, either. "With him," Horry said, "he can curse in English, too." New York Daily News

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Scottie Pippen, Italy, Robert Horry, Virtus Bologna 

Your then teammate when you were with the Bulls, Scottie Pippen, was quoted as saying “I’ve never had a conversation with Dennis. I’ve never had a conversation with Dennis in my life, so I don’t think it’s anything new.” Why not speak to your teammates then? RODMAN: Well, I think it was important for me to go in there and win. I don’t have a job to speak to people. My job is to collate and understand how people work and make people believe in the fact that [I] belong there. Talking to people will come. Relating to people will come. If they see you performing and doing your job and being with the group, that’s all I want. Me and Scottie — we’re cool today. We’re a little older, a little wiser. We’re cool today. And me and Scottie never had a conversation. Me and Scottie and Michael never had a conversation in three years in Chicago. Only time we had a conversation was on the court, and that was it. NBCSports.com

Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman 

But Rodman and Thomas and the Pistons persevered, and became one of the great championship teams, and Rodman became one of the greatest winners, helping Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen get rings at the end of his career just as he had helped Thomas and Joe Dumars get rings at the beginning. The big crybaby. "That's why we love him," Thomas said by phone. "That's the guy that we all see, that we all protected, when he played with us, in the locker room, all the rest. When he jumped up and said something crazy, something outlandish, the guy who wore lipstick? That ain't the guy that we saw every day, turning into the glamour guy. The guy we saw on stage (Friday), that's the guy we saw every day." NBA.com

Charlotte Bobcats, Detroit Pistons, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Joe Dumars 

Former NBA basketball star Scottie Pippen has won a $2.37 million judgment against a Miami businessman, Craig Frost, and a Miami company, CF Air. Pippen, who has a home in Fort Lauderdale, and his wife, Larsa Pippen, filed suit against Frost in 2007 regarding Pippen’s disastrous ownership of his own airplane through a company called Air Pip. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Air Pip had fallen apart in 2004, and Pippen lost a related $5 million judgment in Missouri to U.S. BankbizWatch . Pippen lost a further appeal of that judgment in 2007. Business News

Law, Scottie Pippen 

During the playoffs, Pippen indicated to me that he would have no problem visiting with Krause, that the hard feelings no longer seemed that important. Whether Jordan, known for harboring hard feelings for years that feed his competitiveness, will be able to make the same concessions remains to be seen. HoopsHype

Chicago Bulls, Scottie Pippen, Jerry Krause 

Pippen also attributes a lot of the success Rodman had professionally to attending a small school, specifically that as an undersized power forward, he was able to lead the NBA in rebounding for a record seven straight years. “It pushed him to work harder and realize that it was an uphill battle this whole career,” said Pippen of Rodman, who was selected in the second round of the 1986 draft, one year before Pippen entered the league. “That’s how he faced that challenge, which he met every day. “Dennis worked as hard as any player in the gym,” added Pippen. “He lifted weights, he rode the bike; he kept himself going before and after games, as well as practices. He always kept himself in top shape and was very determined. You put a relentless Dennis Rodman out on the basketball court, and you better have someone there to match his energy. If you don’t, it’s going to be a long night.” NBA.com

Chicago Bulls, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Hall of Fame 

Rodman was considered a controversial figure for his antics both on and off the court, but the Bulls were confident in what they were getting. “We knew Dennis was a heck of a basketball player and he’d bring a lot of value in terms of what he could do on the court,” said Pippen. “You had to respect the fact that not only was he a good defensive player and rebounder, but he had a very high basketball IQ. He knew how to play the game and he knew how to win.” More importantly, the battles between the Bulls and Rodman’s Pistons were ancient history in Jordan and Pippen’s mind. “I had moved on,” recalled Pippen. “I’ve played basketball all of my life and I’ve had things happen on the court that you eventually have to move on from. It’s part of some of the obstacles that you meet in trying to reach your pinnacle. NBA.com

Chicago Bulls, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Hall of Fame 

"The comments that I made were basically giving LeBron some props as a player, not to dismantle any player like Michael," Pippen said after a youth camp session at the Bulls/Sox academy. "We all know that he's the greatest player that ever played the game. "I think it was taken a little bit out of context. I felt like I was drawing more of a conclusion from the statistics more than the accolades." ESPN.com

Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Scottie Pippen 

Scottie Pippen had it all wrong when he recently compared LeBron James with Michael Jordan, said one former Chicago Bulls teammate. "The irony to me is that LeBron is not Michael. LeBron is actually Scottie," former Bull and current television analyst Steve Kerr said Monday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "He's so similar to Scottie in that defensively he was just a monster, could guard anybody, really more of a point forward than scoring guard. Scottie always loved to distribute the ball. That's really where LeBron's preference is. ESPN.com

Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Steve Kerr, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen 

Scottie Pippen had it all wrong when he recently compared LeBron James with Michael Jordan, said one former Chicago Bulls teammate. "The irony to me is that LeBron is not Michael. LeBron is actually Scottie," former Bull and current television analyst Steve Kerr said Monday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "He's so similar to Scottie in that defensively he was just a monster, could guard anybody, really more of a point forward than scoring guard. Scottie always loved to distribute the ball. That's really where LeBron's preference is. "Phil Jackson used to call Scottie a 'sometimes shooter.' Sometimes they would go in, sometimes they wouldn't. That's how it is with LeBron. He's a great talent and a great player but you can see his flaws as a basketball player. He doesn't have an offensive game that he can rely on: no low-post game, no mid-range jump shot so when the game really gets tough he has a hard time finding easy baskets and getting himself going. That's what Michael did in his sleep so that's why the comparison is wrong." ESPN.com

Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Steve Kerr, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen 

Then he went to Michael Jordan’s dynastic Bulls and their six championships. Van Gundy speculated that perhaps Jordan was the only superstar on that team. “I have always wondered, as good as Scottie Pippen was, would he have been considered a star if he hadn’t played with Jordan and had to carry a team on his own,” Van Gundy explained. “We’ll never know, but my point is that sometimes we make the determination after the fact. In other words, after Chicago won championships, we branded Pippen a star.” Orlando Sentinel

Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Hall of Fame, Jeff Van Gundy 

Scottie Pippen: Don't get me wrong, MJ was and is the greatest. But LeBron could by all means get to his level someday. Twitter

LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen 

Scottie Pippen: Every NBA generation has a new set of stars and LeBron is there as the best all around player in the game. Twitter

LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen 

Speaking on ESPN Radio Friday morning, Bulls legend Scottie Pippen did the unexpected, declaring LeBron James may be the greatest basketball player ever, even moreso than his running mate Michael Jordan. You can bet that many Bulls fans are both shocked and outraged. “Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game,” Pippen said. “But I may go as far as to say LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved. You have to be on your Ps and Qs on defense. No guy on the basketball court is not a threat to score with LeBron James out there. Not only will LeBron dominate from the offensive end as well, but he’s also doing it on the defensive end which really makes him the complete package. He’s able to get in those passing lanes, shoot those gaps and create transition opportunities where he is pretty much unstoppable.” SLAM

Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen 

Is Scottie mad at Michael [Jordan] about something? Is he holding a grudge, Horace? “(Laughing) I hope not, I don’t think so, but you know to say that somebody, I mean listen, I’m mean I’m kinda at a loss of words cause Michael Jordan I mean when you win numerous MVPs and you’ve taken the team to six championships and probably could have been eight if he didn’t retire those two years. You know MVP’s and the playoffs and the championships I mean man he made us better, he made believe me, he, myself, Scottie, BJ, even Bill Cartwright who I still love, he made us better players. He gave us that confidence, but first we had to earn his trust and once we earned his trust man you know you saw championship after championship and as far as talent wise, that’s no man. Who do you want to take that last shot when three seconds are left in the game? Who do you want the ball in their hands the last 3 seconds? He proved that he can score the last few seconds of a ball game or if he gets double teamed that Steve Kerr or John Paxson are right there so you know I love Scottie, but I totally disagree.” Sports Radio Interviews

Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant 

He’s taken a beating by Bulls fans as you can imagine Horace. You’ve heard it before too so you know what it’s like. If Scotties listening right now what would you say to him? “You know this is a great country we live in. You’re entitled to your opinions but your uhh uhh…[Waddle: YOURE WRONG!] Yeah, yeah he’s wrong on this one.” Sports Radio Interviews

Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Bill played on a total of 11 championship teams and as you very well know, Scottie, the ring is the thing, and everything else is just statistics. So I would advise you to do a little homework before crowning Michael or LeBron with the title of best ever. As dominant as he is, LeBron has yet to win a championship. I must say that it looks like Miami has finally put the team together that will change that circumstance. Its my hope that today’s players get a better perspective on exactly what has been done in this league in the days of yore. Los Angeles Times

Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Scottie Pippen thinks LeBron James might become a greater player than Michael Jordan. James isn’t so sure – but he’s also not ruling out the possibility. “Mike was an unbelievable player,” James said Saturday. “I got a long way, long way to be mentioned as one of the all-time greats. Not even just Jordan – there are a lot of great players who have played in this league: Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and all these guys that are floating around with multiple rings. Bill Russell. All of these guys who have pioneered the game for me and [Dwyane Wade]. Yahoo! Sports

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen