Pippen averaged 16ppg 6.4reb 5.2ast 2.0stl .8blk 47%fg for his career and people talk about him like he was playing on LeBron's level. The one thing people never talk about with Pippen is the fact that yes he averaged 17ppg in the playoffs 7.6reb and 5.0ast, but Pippen shot 44% in the playoffs for his career. Pippen shot 39% in the 96 playoffs, Pippen shot 41% in the 97 and 98 playoffs. The first year Pippen played in the playoffs without Jordan after his final run with Da Bulls, Pippen shot 32.9% in the playoffs that year(1999). Pippen only had one season shooting over 50% in the playoffs and that was the 90 playoffs when he made 50.4% of his shots. Other than that, he was a streaky scorer, overrated passer and ball handler, overrated defender, and he only shot 30% from 3 point land to go with 72% free throws for his career in the playoffs.

Pippen shot 40% in the 96,97 and 98 playoffs, name one other player who could will his team to a 3 peat, the way Jordan did, with a sidekick that shot 40% in the playoffs during those 3 championship runs.

 Lets look at the most prominent accolades that Scottie Pippen has received:

1990: Scottie Pippen chosen to "Dream Team 1".
SI reported: Scottie Pippen had played one All-Star Calibur season when he was chosen to be on the first U.S. Olympic Men's basketball team that included NBA players. He was chosen ahead of Isiah Thomas who at the time had just led the Detroit Pistons to two NBA Championships and was beginning to wind down his Hall of Fame career. Some mentioned that Pippen may have benefited from the Jordan revenge on Thomas for the alleged "Freeze out" in the 1985 NBA All-Star Game. The real Freeze out in that game was when "Iceman" George Gervin torched Jordan and the East for 23 points. Pippen belonged on Dream Team 2, not the original Dream Team, his stardom was not fully established when he was selected for Dream Team 1.

1991 Scottie "Shut Down" Magic Johnson in the 1991 NBA Finals.
First: Lets disspell a myth. Scottie Pippen did not "shut down" Magic Johnson in the 1991 NBA Finals:
Johnson's numbers in the 1991 NBA Finals:
Game Pts Rebs Ast
1 19 10 11
2* 14 7 10
3* 22 6 10
4* 22 6 11
5* 16 11 20
* games when Johnson was guarded by Pippen


Johnsons's 1991 NBA Finals Stats: 18.6ppg 8.0rpg 12.4apg
Johnson's 1991 NBA Finals stats while guarded by Pippen: 18.5ppg 7.5rpg 12.8apg
Johnson's 1990-91 Regular season stats 19.4ppg 7.0apg 12.5apg


When you consider that an assist causes your team to score 2 points, Johnson was actually more productive for his team (by a tiny fraction) while guarded by Pippen than he was in Game 1 of the 1991 NBA Finals or the 1990-91 regular season.

While Scottie deserves credit for keeping Magic from completely "going off" in the series, Pippen only slowed Johnson down in Game 2. In games 3-5 Johnson averaged 20ppg, 7.7rpg 13.7apg, all better than his regular season numbers. Pippen was a great defender but, Johnson, -like all of the game's All Time Greats do in big games- still "got his" while he was guarded by Scottie Pippen. Johnson even had 20 assists in game 5 when his two long time trusted options: James Worthy and Byron Scott, were out with injuries.

1996 "All Around Best Player"
The media likes to make up labels for their favorite people to make them look better than they really are. Remember the 2000 Presidential Election when Democrats in the media made up the term "gravitas" to make their guy Al Gore look more presidential than his opponents? There is no NBA award for "All-Around best player" It was just a special label that was made up for one guy: Scottie Pippen. The pro-Pippen media was not happy saying "1995 All-Star game MVP Scottie Pippen" they wanted something to make him look better than he really was. If other point-forwards like Connie Hawkins and Paul Pressey were also acknowledged for their "All-Around Best Play" then this label would have some merit. On the day Pippen left Chicago the media immediately stopped using the phrase "All Around Best Player" to describe him.

1996: Pippen on the "50 Greatest Players" List
Pippen made the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History" list. Oscar Robertson said this: "Beyond the first 10 or 12 guys the 50 greatest players list was about who had the best P.R.. Bob McAdoo, a former league MVP did not make the list." If Scottie Pippen had played in a small market like Portland or Denver for his entire career it is highly unlikely that he would have been on the 50 greateast players list. Just ask Sidney Moncrief.

I would like to acknowledge that I thought Pippen was one of the best forwards in the game when he was at his peak. The simple fact remains that his accomplishments were magnified by his playing in Chicago. Pippen would have been an All-Star no matter where he played, but there would have been far less attention and good P.R. in a small market. Pippen's first year in Portland showed on a national stage another huge weakness his game: He can't take his team on his back in the clutch and win. That is why Scottie was MIA when his Blazers went to L.A. and pulled off the most collosal Game 7 fourth quarter choke in NBA playoff history. Pippen spent that fourth quarter watching Rasheed Wallace and Brian Grant lay bricks instead of taking over when it was obvious his team was in trouble. All the Blazers needed was a few baskets to stave off the Laker rally. That is why it is absurd to think that Pippen is of the same calibur as Larry Bird, Elgin Baylor and Julius Erving, those guys would not have let their team choke so badly if they were Blazers in Pippen's place.

 
The Bulls had nine different players on that '93-'94 team average at least seven points per game. In the playoffs, Chicago ran into their bitter rival, the New York Knicks, in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Knicks had been eliminated by Jordan and the Bulls in each of the previous three seasons so they were obviously extremely motivated to take advantage of the golden opportunity that lay before them. The Knicks eventually ended the Bulls' season Personally, I believe they missed Jordan's leadership, grit, and toughness, nearly as much as his actual talent. Scottie Pippen, who is arguably one of most overrated players in NBA history, couldn't handle the responsibilities and pressures that come with being his team's best player and unquestioned leader. For instance, I could never look at Scottie Pippen the same way after he took himself out of Game 3 of that Knicks series with 1.4 seconds left on the clock, after Phil Jackson decided Toni Kukoc would take the game's final, game-winning shot (as Pippen sulked, whined, and watched from the bench.) Pippen was perfectly suited to play second fiddle, but was not build to be the top banana. The Bulls struggled to stay over .500 in the 94-95 season but they won 76% of their games when Jordan returned and he wasn't even in basketball shape yet. The following season the Bulls won 72 games in '95-'96, as everyone comfortable in their respective roles…

When he left the sinking ship in Chicago to join the Rockets he was thought to be the missing piece. Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley were aging, and they really needed someone to lean on. Pippen came in saying he would be that person, and then immediately started punking his teammates. His constant complaining and finger-pointing made him the most unpopular player in the history of the Rockets, with fans basically threatening to tar and feather him (this is Texas) on his way out of town.

Pippen was better in Portland, where expectations were lower, but he didn't have any more success being the "missing piece" there, either. I'll never forget the 2000 Western Conference Finals, in which the Blazers had a chance to eliminate the Lakers in Game 7 in Portland. Portland had a double-digit lead going into the fourth quarter and Pippen inexplicably began taking lots of long jumpers with 20 seconds on the shot clock. It was like he was trying to throw the game . . .and it worked. Portland wound up losing. I guess that's why it was always Steve Kerr or John Paxson taking big shots for the Bulls when MJ deferred. Pippen just wasn't up to it.