Scottie Pippen is arguably the best two-way player to play the game of basketball. A 6ft 8’ forward, who came in as the 5th pick of the 1987 Draft, found himself traded to the Chicago Bulls by the Seattle Supersonics.
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Nothing before or after that could have been a bigger bliss for Pippen, Michael Jordan, and the Bulls. In the following years, they became the most dominant team in the NBA since Bill Russell’s Celtics.
As much credit as MJ gets for all he did in the 90s, Scottie was also a big part of why nobody got an answer for the Bulls whenever they made it to the NBA Finals between 1991 and 1998. He was also the mind behind the Dream Team’s glory.
Scottie Pippen was the Dream Team’s MVP according to Gilbert Arenas
The world had no answer for how to deal with Pippen and Jordan. They proved it in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 along with several other superstars of the league representing Team USA.
However, a certain All-Star guard against the 2000s believes Pippen was the most valuable player in a team that had some of the greatest basketball players of all time.
A couple of years back, in an episode of No Chill with Gilbert Arenas, the 3x All-Star who played in the NBA for 11 years and is one of the NBA’s biggest “What Ifs” discussed who actually was the MVP in the Dream Team.
That group of several superstars not only brought the Gold medal, playing for Team USA but also popularized the game like never before. The Wizards guard said that Pippen “was the most valuable in the team,” for being the highest assists provider in the tournament when the team had Magic Johnson and John Stockton.
Pippen was absurdly multidimensional
If Scottie Pippen played at the point position he would have excelled at it. He could have been the scorer if he wanted to, and was an elite defender for 10+ years on a nightly basis. His 10x All-Defensive Team selections are a testament to the latter.
However, being the jack of all trades and playing second fiddle most of his career meant he couldn’t master either scoring or playmaking.
But, whenever his teams needed anything, he always rose to the occasion. Be it guarding a big man or a smaller guard he had the strength and quick feet for both. Pippen would probably always stay the most underrated player of all time.
