Scottie Pippen: “I’ll Always Wonder What It Would Have Been Like to Play With Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant”

56-year-old Scottie Pippen had an illustrious career with the Chicago Bulls. One of the best forwards of his time, Pippen teamed up with the likes of Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman to build a formidable side. He won six NBA championships during his time at Chicago, and made 7 All-star appearances. However, the star was considered to have played second fiddle to Jordan for many years. Not taking to this belief too kindly, Pippen has sparked a wave of controversy over the past few weeks.

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Michael Jordan fell in and out of love with the game often. He averaged over 30 points in his career, and was the leader of the Bulls attack. Meanwhile, Scottie was a destructive proposition to come up against, and amassed just over 16 points. When MJ decided to take a break from the game, it was ‘Pip’ who led the Bulls attack. He managed some great numbers, and Chicago made the semifinals. However, after the release of the Last Dance series, Pippen lashed out at Jordan’s self glorification.

Scottie Pippen admits to wanting to join the Lakers

Another historic team from around the same era, was the Los Angeles Lakers. Having acquired Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, LA became a deadly franchise. Moreover, they had the most potent set of owners, in the form of the Buss family. As Pippen revealed in his ‘Unguarded’ memoir, he didn’t like being the supporting act at Chicago. In fact, he always believed he was just as good as ‘His Airness’. But in the same memoir, the ’94 All-star MVP admitted to have thought about life with the Lakers.

Although he dreamed of playing alongside Kobe and Shaq, he also revealed that the owners weren’t willing to bring him in. “Yes, I was soon on the move again. Not to Los Angeles. The owner, Dr. Jerry Buss, wasn’t willing to pick up the last year of my deal. I couldn’t blame him. He was already paying Shaq a fortune. I’ll always wonder what it would have been like to play with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. I might have been a Laker until I was forty,” quoted Scottie [Unguarded Page 250].

Can you imagine how deadly the Lakers would’ve been with the addition of Scottie Pippen? Who knows how many extra titles each of those men would’ve won. Nonetheless, his legacy at Chicago was just meant to be. And though he has gone against Jordan off late, he will still always cherish the good times together!

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