How much does Scottie Pippen owe Michael Jordan?

Former Chicago Bulls back-up center Will Perdue gives his informed opinion on how much Michael Jordan’s influence helped Scottie Pippen.

Scottie Pippen was one of the most talented and physically gifted forwards in NBA history. Pippen could run fast, jump high and combined it brilliantly with a high basketball IQ. Pippen had a great feel for the game, was unselfish, a joy to play with according to so many of his teammates. He was one of the best second bananas in NBA history, standing side-by-side with Michael Jordan for all six Chicago Bulls championships.

But Pippen was not an instant success. Unlike Jordan, who averaged 28.2 ppg as a rookie and led the Bulls in every single significant statistical category, Pippen averaged a mere 7.9 ppg his first season. He didn’t shoot over 50 percent from the floor until his 4th campaign, the year the Bulls won their first title. Jordan was waiting for Pippen, or anyone, to mature so the Bulls could finally get past the Pistons and ultimately be crowned a champion.

Pippen was the one to do it. He deserves a ton of credit for his maturation into a Hall of Fame player.

But would he have made the NBA’s Top 50 player list had he not played with Jordan? Pippen’s teammate on the first three championship teams Will Perdue offered this perspective on  Da Windy City Podcast:

“I don’t think he would be a Top 50 player,” Perdue said. “I think he still would have been an All-Star. But you always wonder about who would have been that guy in Seattle hypothetically if they didn’t trade him that would have held him accountable like Michael did?”

Pippen was traded to the Bulls on the same night he was drafted by the Sonics, a team that ended up growing a roster of talent that eventually met the Bulls in the NBA Finals in 1996. It’s fair to wonder if that team would have been better with Scottie or if Scottie was better with the Bulls because of Jordan.

“There are plenty of guys who are going to jump in the fox hole with you, but how good is that guy next to you in the fox hole? Yeah he’s a great teammate and he’s going to go to war with you, but how good is that guy?” Perdue explained. “If you take the best player on the planet, the best player in the league, and the guy basically says I’m with you, but I need you to step it up. I’m leading the way, all you have to do is follow. But it’s not as easy as follow, you gotta do what I do. You gotta increase the effort.”

And Pippen did increase the effort. He put on weight, his shot got better. He became smarter, tougher and an NBA champion. He was an MVP candidate when Jordan was away playing baseball. Learning from Jordan takes nothing away from Pippen, but rather a credit to him.

It’s also another credit to the greatness of Michael Jordan.