NBA legends Scottie Pippen and Dwyane Wade were both key contributors in helping their teams win multiple NBA championships.
Advertisement
When you think of LeBron James and Michael Jordan and what the two greats have accomplished during their careers, you can’t help but remember the names of Dwyane Wade and Scottie Pippen.
Both James and Jordan would not be in the conversation of being the greatest player of all time if not for the contributions of their brilliant teammates.
Concerning Jordan, Pippen played the role of ‘Robin’ perfectly. He entered the league 3 years after Jordan and relied on him to teach him more about the game and help him become a better basketball player. Pippen in turn helped elevate Jordan’s game to the next level.
Meanwhile, both James and Wade were bonafide superstars who entered the league together in 2003. James teamed up with his best friend in Miami and the duo would go on to win back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013.
Pippen and Wade were happy to sit back and watch Jordan and James respectively do their thing on a nightly basis and would play the option ‘B’ role to perfection whenever needed.
Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam combined to score 1,187 points this postseason, tied with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for 2nd-most by teammates in a single #NBAPlayoffs in @NBAHistory. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are the only pair to have recorded more (1,222 in 2012). pic.twitter.com/mYMYOLHyEB
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) June 14, 2019
When you compare them statistically, Dwyane Wade and Scottie Pippen were pretty much neck to neck
Michael Jordan never had a teammate on the same level as D Wade 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/ha3Mldlr0S
— CockSources ➐ (@cocksources) May 1, 2022
While the numbers suggest that Wade was a better scorer, Pippen was a better defensive player who could guard all 5 positions on the floor.
One can consider other factors as well such as the eras the players played in, the teams they faced, the physicality level, and so on but all in all both Wade and Pippen were invaluable pieces for their respective teams.
Was James at an advantage or did Jordan have the easier route to the NBA Championship? We’ll let you be the judge for that.