Bulls got Scottie Pippen to pen down a 5-year, $18 million contract just because he was scared of taking any risks outside of Chicago.
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Scottie Pippen was one heck of a basketball player and one of the greats of the game who could have made a lot more money in his NBA career than he did when it was all said and done.
In fact, he was the best two-way player in the league who could guard every position and yet score a lot of points and create shots for himself and for others. There probably has never been a player more complete than the Bulls forward.
But much like he was a team-oriented guy on the court, he was a family first person off it. His major aim as soon as he came into the league in 1987 was to set his mother and 11 older siblings up, as they did not grow up with much.
Him being the team first guy kept him from becoming a superstar of his own, and being a family guy kept him from taking the financial risks that could have made him a lot more money through salary in his 17-year career.
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Scottie Pippen played safe and signed one of the worst contracts keeping his brother and family in mind
After coming into the league in 1987 and signing a rookie contract for 6 years, Pippen could have waited until 1993, become a 3x NBA champ, a regular All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team member and then extend his contract.
But he rather took a 5-year, $18 million deal as soon as he got the offer after helping the Bulls win their first Championship in 1991. The deal could not have come any cheaper for the Chicago team as they locked down someone averaging 21.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.1 blocks a game in the Playoffs for under $3.6 million a year.
“I’ve always thought that one injury could wipe all of this away,” Pippen told The Tribune back in the day. “I’m able to run and jump and do all the things I can do. I’m blessed.”
“We’re all blessed in the NBA, but I always would look at Darryl Stingley (the paralyzed former Purdue University and New England Patriots player who used to sit behind the Bulls’ bench in the Chicago Stadium). I’d kind of watch him sometimes and see my brother (Ronny Pippen), a healthy, strong young man, and all of a sudden, he’s confined to a wheelchair, to where he can’t get around. I think about that a lot.”
The man, who was clearly a top-5 player in the league and helped the Bulls to 6 championships in 8 years, was yet the league’s 122nd best-paid player.
Yikes, Chicago Bulls! Yes, that’s Pippen’s own fault to accept those deals for winning rings or not willing to take the risk to set his family up for good. But, that is no way to treat a legend of the game.
The league made up for it though, and both the Houston Rockets and the Portland Trail Blazers paid the 10x All-Defensive team member around $57 million in the 5 years after the Bulls broke up in 1998.
The Windy City got another chance to pay up their legend when he came back in 2003, but again went cheap and gave him just over $10 million for 2-years. They are a major reason why Pippen has become so bitter and weary of Michael Jordan over the years.
