The Chicago Bulls were one of the most prolific teams. Especially during their second three-peat, the team was constantly surrounded by drama. With personalities such as Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen, it’s almost impossible for the front office to have a quiet day at work.
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Of all the characters on the team, Dennis was undoubtedly the most ‘unhinged’. Even with his unorthodox rebounding and defense, Dennis was a central piece in the Bulls franchise.
The ‘Worm’ isn’t only unorthodox in his playstyle but also in his basketball takes. Though they are many Rodman takes that are ‘out there’, this one may be different.
While Dennis was never really close to any of the players in the Bulls locker room, he knew their games inside out. Groomed by Hall of Fame Coach Chuck Daly, Rodman developed an eye for the game pretty early on in his career. These factors made Dennis a good judge of a player’s ceiling, especially of his former Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen.
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Dennis Rodman heaps praise on his former Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen
Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen were frequent guests on the now-discontinued show “The Jump with Rachel Nichols”. While on the show, the duo were often asked questions about their playing days with The Chicago Bulls.
While on a rant about today’s players and positional/position-less basketball, Rodman heaped heavy praise on Scottie Pippen, telling the world on national television that “Scottie Pippen is most probably the innovator of the power/point forward position. I love magic, I love bird, I love Drexler, I love all those guys, but I want the world to know, this guy right here, smooth! 6’9 Kevin Durant, kiss my a**. All you 6’9, 6’10 guys need to come up to Scottie and bow down to him“.
Though it is debatable as to who or what revolutionized the point-forward position, Dennis is not completely off in heaping praise on Scottie for his role in revolutionizing the sport.
A LeBron before LeBron
Many people have compared LeBron James to the likes of Michael, but honestly the comparison is completely off. The player which most matches LeBron in his play style is actually Scottie Pippen.
Strong, athletic, 6’9, 6’10, two-way forwards were not a thing before Pippen entered the league. Though during Pippen’s time, players like Karl Malone, and Drexler did indeed exist, but no one was quite like Scottie.
Similar to Bron, Pippen could defend positions 1 to 5, bring the ball up the court, post-up, and rebound while also distributing the ball to make the offense flow. But before LeBron ever did any of that, Phil Jackson had Pippen doing it day in and day out.
Applying the same philosophy, many power forwards such as Tim Duncan and LeBron have won Championships. Though the league has now moved to a more position-less run-and-gun three-point style of basketball, the impact of Pippen’s style can still be felt in the game.
