Was Scottie Pippen one of the 25 greatest basketball players
in history or just a good player fortunate to be Michael Jordan’s sidekick?
It’s a debate almost as fun as the annual Jordan-LeBron
James argument.
In my system, Pippen lands at No. 22 because he was a
versatile star on the best juggernaut in NBA history who put in 16 topflight
seasons.
There’s no denying he was a winner. Pippen’s teams 68.8
percent of the games he played in, and he spent time in Chicago without Jordan
plus stints in Houston and Portland. His regular season winning percentage
actually was higher than Jordan’s. His teams won 65.4 percent of their
postseason games, and that includes a Western Conference Finals appearance with
the Trailblazers.
His traditional stats are strong for a No. 2 option. He
averaged more than 20 points per game four times. He shot above 50 percent
twice. He topped 7.0 rebounds per game five times and 6.0 assists per games
three. His career assists per game of 5.2 is not up there with Larry Bird and
James, but it’s better than the other great small forwards, Rick Barry, John
Havlicek, Elgin Baylor and Julius Erving. He was named to 10 NBA All-Defensive
teams, leading the league in steals in 1994-1995, topping 2.0 steals per game
six times and bettering 1.0 blocked shots per game five times.
His advanced stats are strong. He topped 20.0 in PER seven
time and 10.0 in win shares six times. His career Box +/- ranks 25th
all-time. His career VORP is 18th.
He was a strong playoff performer. Several years his PER and
Box +/- declined from the regular season, but several years they were better.
In the end, you got pretty much the same guy in the playoffs as you did during
the regular season.
If there’s one year that tips the scales in favor of Pippen
being one of the all-time greats, it’s 1993-1994. That was the year Jordan
famously retired to chase a baseball dream. Without Jordan, Pippen set career
highs in PER (23.2), Box +/- (8.3) and had his second best VORP (7.2). In the playoffs,
he also had his best PER (22.8). Pippen’s Bulls went 51-21 with him in the
lineup and 6-4 in the playoffs. Pippen won the All-Star game MVP and finished
third in the MVP voting. It all added up to a 328.56 in my system. The only
season Pippen graded higher was 1995-1996 when the Bulls went 72-10 in the
regular season and 15-3 in the playoffs.
It may not end the debate in the court of public opinion,
but based on numbers, Pippen was the fourth best small forward of all time.
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Scottie
Pippen bio info
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Career
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1987-2004
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Games
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1,178
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Points
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16.1
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Rebounds
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6.4
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Assists
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5.2
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FG Pct.
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47.3%
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All-Star games
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7
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NBA MVPs
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0
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NBA titles
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6
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Playoff seasons
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16
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Playoff games
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208
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Points
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17.5
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Rebounds
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7.6
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Assists
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5.0
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FG Pct.
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44.4%
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Hall of Fame
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2010
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Top 100
rankings
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Points
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Top 100 ranking
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1-year
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348.52
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42nd
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5-year
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1,634.59
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27th
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10-year
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2,984.50
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19th
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Career
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4,070.23
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18th
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Scottie
Pippen at his peak
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1995-1996
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Pippen
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Top 5
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Points
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PER
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21.0
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27.33
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Win Shares
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12.3
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16.25
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Box +/-
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6.8
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7.67
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VORP
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6.3
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7.38
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Total Advanced Stats
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46.4
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58.62
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79.15
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Playoff PER
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19.4
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27.08
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Win Shares
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3.0
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3.37
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Box +/-
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9.3
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7.98
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VORP
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2.1
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1.80
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Total Advanced Stats
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33.8
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40.22
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84.03
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Reg. Season Win %
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87.01
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87.01
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Playoff Win %
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83.33
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83.33
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MVP Voting (75 points)
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226/1,130
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15.00
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Playoff MVP (25 points)
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0
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0
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Total Score
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348.52
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Pippen’s 10 greatest seasons
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1995-1996
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348.52
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1993-1994
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328.56
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1991-1992
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324.66
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1990-1991
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318.92
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1996-1997
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313.92
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1997-1998
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303.01
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1994-1995
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274.91
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1992-1993
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266.24
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1999-2000
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264.09
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1989-1990
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241.65
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Career
winning percentage
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W
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L
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Pct.
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Regular Season
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810
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368
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68.76%
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Playoffs
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136
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72
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65.38%
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