47. Scottie Pippen

Sometimes described as the ultimate Robin type player. Scottie Pippen was the key sidekick to the Michael Jordan lead Bulls teams who won six NBA titles in the 1990s. Yet, Pippen was much more than just a role player. He was one of the greatest defenders in the history of the NBA.

Pippen attended little know Central Arkansas University, the school is so little known that to this date Pippen is the only player from the school to ever play in the NBA. Pippen didn’t have an easy road from CAU to the NBA though, his first year he seen limited action and averaged just 4 points a game. Things got a little better for Pippen after his freshman season, in his sophomore season he averaged 19 points a game and by his senior season was averaging over 20. Pippen played a total of 93 games and averaged 17 points and 8 rebounds.

The Seattle Sonics drafted Pippen with the 5th pick in the 1987 draft than immediately traded him to the Bulls for Olden Polynice. Pippen played modestly his first year appearing in 79 games and averaging 8 points a night. His playing time went up his second year and he eventually cracked the starting lineup late in the season.

By his third year he was becoming a household name in the NBA. He made his first all-star appearance in 89-90 and averaged 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Pippen would play a key role as the Bulls one their first title in 1991. He averaged over 21 points a game in the playoffs.

The Bulls would win three more titles in consecutive years with Pippen and Jordan as their stars. Pippen would make the all-star team each year and in 1992 finally cracked the 20 point per game barrier.

Michael Jordan would retire following the Bulls third title in 1993 and the team would be turned over to Pippen. In his only full year as the Bulls main superstar Pippen put up career numbers. He averaged 22 points per game, 9 rebounds per game, six assists and 3 steals, he also went on to win all-star game MVP honors and lead the Bulls to 55 wins that season. But the Bulls would not four peat without Jordan.

Pippen was the Bulls main go to guy for half of the 94-95 season as well but Michael Jordan came out of retirement and the Bulls had another good season but did not win the title. The Bulls revamped following the 95 playoffs and added Dennis Rodman. The Bulls than went on to win an NBA record 72 games and their 4th NBA title.

The Bulls would win their next two titles against the Utah Jazz where Pippen was often used to guard hall of fame point guard John Stockton to try and stifle the Jazz offense. It worked well enough and the Bulls won both series in 6 games.

Following Jordan’s second retirement in 1998, coach Phil Jackson’s leaving of the Bulls and the lockout Pippen joined the Houston Rockets for a season. He played in all 50 games but was unable to help the Rockets do very much in the playoffs. Pippen than joined the Portland Blazers where he’d become a solid defensive role player for the Bulls.

The Blazers started out well when they got Pippen and made the western finals and only missed the NBA finals because of a game 7 4th quarter collapse vs. the Lakers. The Blazers would never seen that kind of success again and slowly faded into playoff obscurity.

Pippen played four seasons with the Blazers from 1999 until 2003, he than signed a deal to play with the Bulls again but lasted only 23 games before retiring. He was inducted into the hall of game in 2010. He played in 1,178 career games and averaged 16 points 6 rebounds 5 assists and 2 steals.

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