Taking on a guy a half-foot taller must be both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
Scottie Pippen’s career can be defined by two things: grievance and greatness.
In fairness to Pippen, some of his grievances are justified. Although he was seen (probably correctly) as second banana to Michael Jordan on the 1990’s Bulls dynasty, they wouldn't have won nearly as much without Pippen, and possibly not at all. He was that vital to the Bulls.
He felt he was underpaid and underappreciated by the Bulls too, and there was validity to that. However, he and his agent negotiated a long-term deal and could arguably have done better. If he had played for, say, Red Auerbach, the Boston Celtics might have worked out a new deal out of appreciation for his greatness. But he played for Jerry Reinsdorf, and Reinsdorf does not like to renegotiate.
He has other grievances over the years too. We’re not aware of what he thinks of Michael Jordan’s son getting involved with his ex-wife, but that probably hasn’t gone over well either.
You can decide for yourself about his grievances, but there is no doubting his greatness. Jordan is widely considered the greatest player of all time, but there aren’t many players with Pippen’s versatility, stunning athleticism and commitment to defense. He was an amazing basketball player who has some real career highlights.
One of them is this powerful dunk over Patrick Ewing in 1994. Keep in mind that Ewing was an immensely strong, athletic 7-0 center. He was not to be trifled with.
On this play, Pippen comes down the left side on a fast break and gets the ball from Pete Meyers and just dunks all over Ewing. After Ewing falls to the floor, Pippen stands over him and taunts him, something Ewing clearly didn’t appreciate.
It was the sort of greatness Pippen showed quite frequently. One wonders how much more he could personally have achieved if he was more happy with his role and his relationship with the Bulls.
Cameo: the Davis they refer to at the beginning is Hubert Davis, now the coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels.
