“Scottie Pippen to Seattle meant fans burn down our arena”: Shawn Kemp on why he wasn’t a Bull

Shawn Kemp revealed Seattle Supersonics fans threatened to burn down their arena of Scottie Pippen was traded for him.

The Chicago Bulls under Jerry Krause loved to make Scottie Pippen feel as though he wasn’t valued. Despite the 6 championships, Pippen’s value alongside Michael Jordan wasn’t fully understood by Krause and management. This was made clear with Pippen’s name constantly being in trade rumors once he established himself as an All-NBA talent.

Whether it was Tracy McGrady or Shawn Kemp, one of the greatest defenders of all time in his prime was on the trading block. Krause’s flirtation with Toni Kukoc and him wanting to pay him money over Pippen also caused a great deal of friction between Scottie and the Chicago Bulls front office.

While the Bulls were floating Pippen’s name in trade rumors, he was putting up MVP-esque numbers for them and leading them to the Playoffs without Michael Jordan. Of course, that 1994-95 season MJ would return and Scottie Pippen would once again return to being the greatest Robin of all time.

Also read: Michael Jordan has a $1.7 Billion worth, but had $16 Million fewer in his bank account than Scottie Pippen over NBA career

Shawn Kemp on what a Scottie Pippen trade would’ve meant.

The Seattle Supersonics funnily enough drafted Scottie Pippen in the 1987 NBA Draft but would trade him draft night to the Chicago Bulls for Olden Polynice. Two years later, they would draft Shawn Kemp with the 17^th overall pick and keep him until 1997. His near decade long tenure with the Sonics however, almost got cut short.

On draft night in 1994, the Seattle Supersonics and Chicago Bulls were engaged in trade talks that would’ve sent Scottie to the Sonics in exchange for All-Star power forward, Shawn Kemp, and Ricky Pierce. They would’ve also swapped FRPs as well.

The deal of course, never went through. Kemp went on a podcast recently and said that had that deal gone through, Supersonics fans would’ve burned down the Seattle arena. Either way, Michael Jordan would go on to admit that he wouldn’t feel as comfortable with Kemp as he did with Scottie Pippen.

Both the Sonics and Bulls would meet two years later in the 1996 NBA Finals with Pippen’s squad triumphing over the other in 6 games.

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