OT: Karl Malone would pick Pippen over Jordan

[nwfisch]

Karl Malone says he'd rather start a team with Scottie Pippen than Michael Jordan | Deseret News

"I would have to start my team with Scottie Pippen," he said. "This is why I would take Scottie: Do you remember the time that Michael retired? I watched Scottie Pippen when the Chicago Bulls weren't really good and Scottie led that team in every statistical category, and I just remembered that. Plus, he's a guy who could care less about scoring. He wants to stop the best player on the other team. That would have been pretty cool, to see Scottie guarding Michael."

I think he lost his mind.

 

[inactiveuser1]

Hey this thread was stolen from that shithole RSL, Toolbag

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

i think malone just doesn't like jordan lol

 

[nwfisch]

Hey this thread was stolen from that shithole RSL, Toolbag

:nope:

Read it online at a different site.

 

[nwfisch]

For those keeping track

Pippen>LeBron>Karl Malone>MJ

 

[BNB]

But then, I'm sure a lot of stars would have played with Pippen over Jordan for selfish reasons. If Jordan was on their team, they would have played second fiddle.

 

[inactiveuser1]

:nope:

Read it online at a different site.

It's actually on RSL though :lol:

 

[Tazer4mvp]

Chuck daily did say Pippen was the best player on dream team 1.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Chuck daily did say Pippen was the best player on dream team 1.

Did he now...:thinking:

 

[clonetrooper264]

But then, I'm sure a lot of stars would have played with Pippen over Jordan for selfish reasons. If Jordan was on their team, they would have played second fiddle.

I think this might be the reason. Jordan is infamous for not being the greatest teammate and I'm sure Malone has big ego issues with MJ since he lost to him in the Finals twice. Pippen is by far the better teammate too. I think they phrase is "he's a guy who could care less about scoring." If he were to put himself on the team, I'm sure he'd want to be the alpha dog.

 

[Crystallas]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqK5zDdrMTY]KARL MALONE EXPLAINS KWANZAA - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Tazer4mvp]

Did he now...:thinking:

If you watch Pippen hall of fame intro they talk about

 

[scottiepippen1994]

I think its ridiculous how some of you underrate Pippen and the complete game he brought with him when he stepped on the court. Lenny Wilkins used to call him a basketball catalyst and Magic Johnson is quoted as calling Pip "beautiful"
.......But then again, a lot of posters here are young whippersnappers that missed that era.

He had a pointguards mentality and pretty much orchistrated the offense with or without Jordan on the floor....He made his teammates better than what they were, especially in 1994.....Jordan was more solo in his ways while Pippen was all about team first....Other than pure athletism and talent on Jordans behalf, Scottie was the main reason the Bulls were able to 3 peat twice in 8 years....Not only was Pippen the true leader of the Bulls, but on the floor Pip was a roamer who payed attention to everthing going on around him on both ends of the floor. Pretty much filling in holes wherever they were needed throught each game...VERSATILITY................That second 3 peat squad were really Pippens guys before Jordan came back........
The best way I can discribe Pippens personality on and off the court for you youngsters who didn't get to see him play is compared to Derrick Rose's swagger... Quiet, humble, very basketball intelligent, just wanted to win, supreme confidence and etc. Etc. Etc.........you get my point.........
This is what teammates of Pippen loved about him and following his lead......Just like Rose's teammates for some reason are motivated by there leader to overachieve.....

I think Karl Malone had the right mindset in his comments....that's my opinion, because I too would rather start a team with Pippen because I know he will be able to get the best out of what ever players id put around him.........

I GUESS EVEN KARL KNOWS THAT IF HE WOULD OF BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE PIPPEN AS A TEAMATE ON THE JAZZ IN THE 90'S, KARLS FINGERS WOULD BE LACED WITH CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS ALMOST FOR CERTAIN........I GUESS KARL MUST OF ASKED JORDAN ABOUT IT.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Anyone who would pick Pippen over Jordan to start a franchise (and then build) is a moron. I'm not saying there are many better players to build around than Pippen. But this is Michael freaking Jordan.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Pippen might've been a great teammate and all, but Jordan WON GAMES. Ain't that what it's all about?

 

[scottiepippen1994]

Pippen might've been a great teammate and all, but Jordan WON GAMES. Ain't that what it's all about?

When people discuss Scottie Pippen’s career and legacy during his 17 NBA seasons, it’s impossible not to mention his running mate Michael Jordan. Sure, Pippen played Robin to Jordan’s Batman. Most players would have. I disagree with people who feel Pippen’s hall of fame career was only due to the fact that he played opposite to Jordan. In my opinion, Pippen would have been a hall of fame caliber player for any team, in any system, under any coach in any era.

He is one of the league’s greatest treasures. His versatility was matched by few players in NBA history. Scottie Pippen was a very unique player. On defense, he mixed unusual length with strength and athleticism. There wasn’t an area defensively that he didn’t excell in. He was a lock-down defender guarding three different positions- small forward, shooting guard and point guard. Remember when Phil Jackson would use Scottie to defend the other team’s point guard? I remember opponents not beginning their offense until there were 11 seconds left on the shot clock because Pippen would pressure the point guard 94 feet. During his era and possibly beyond, he was the best permiter and wing defender in the sport. When he was forced to defend the low block, he succeeded there, too. He was truly a defensive mastermind. Body. Length. Athleticism. Intelligence.

For as versatile as he was on the defensive end, you could argue that he was more versatile on offense. Listed as a small forward, Pippen was practically the point guard for six Bulls championship teams. Certainly during crunch time. I remember Scottie crossing the time line dribbling the ball settling the Bulls into their offense more than any other player on that team. It seemed like he was always playing point guard. In NBA history, no other forward has more career assists than Pippen. He could also score off the dribble. He was a good slasher and not easy for opponents to defend. It was tough for opposing small forwards to defend him because he was often playing point guard. And you couldn’t defend him with a point guard, they were too small. He was a decent outside shooter (32% from downtown) and an above average free throw shooter.

To sum up Pippen’s overall game: He could do a lot of things well.

To me, he’s been completely misjudged. Or maybe underrated? I can’t determine which one.

Jordan would still be the best player of all time with or without Pippen. Jordan would still have multiple championships to his credit. But would he have six? I’m not sure Jordan would be wearing six rings without having Pippen be the player he was.

Maybe Michael needed Scottie more so than Scottie needed Michael? When Jordan bolted the NBA in 1993 to pursue a baseball career, Pippen became the Bulls’ unquestioned star and should have won the league MVP award during the ’93-94 season. Without Jordan, The Pippen-led Bulls won 55 games and took a tough Knicks team to seven games in the Eastern conference semi-finals. Pippen wasn’t able to beat that Knicks team without Jordan. I’m not sure Jordan would have been able to either without Pippen. In the Jordan absent ’93-’94 season, Pippen finished first or second in every major statistical category on his team (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks) and was named MVP of the all star game that year. He proved he could lead a team as one of the leagues best players. Pippen didn’t have a ton of help that season, Pete Myers was Jordan’s replacement, ok. The Bulls were still one of the best teams in the league that year.

His 10 NBA All-defensive team honors and 8 All-Defensive first team awards are each one shy of the all time record. He holds the NBA record for career steals from the forward position, like he does with assists. Those accomplishments in my opinion would still have been achieved with or without playing opposite to Jordan. I understand that statement may be easy to disagree with.

Again, don’t think I’m saying that Pippen was better than Jordan. That would make this post even more irrelevant. I’m just saying it’s closer than you might think. Jordan was the face of sports across the globe, but no player can win championships alone. Certainly not six of them. You can’t win six championships by yourself, even if you’re Michael Jordan.

In 1986-87 the Bulls won 40 games with Jordan playing all 82 and averaging 37.1 points per game. That was the year before Pippen was on the team. Jordan alone couldn’t help a poor supporting cast finish the season above 500. What happened the year Pippen arrived? The Bulls had a 10-game improvement and finished the ’87-88 season with a 50-32 record and would continue to improve each year. As Pippen progressed into a lock-down defender and 20 ppg scorer, the Bulls became a dynasty. When the Bulls were at their absolute peak, Jordan and Pippen were both in their primes. Again, not saying Jordan wasn’t the primary factor for the Bulls dynasty, but he needed a another great player, and my belief is that he had one in Pippen.

And if you want to know my take on the one black eye on Pippen’s career, here that is: the argument he had with Phil Jackson during the 1994 playoffs when he refused to enter the game because Jackson elected Toni Kukoc to take the final shot (which he sunk at the buzzer)…that sequence was no doubt a punk move by Pippen. He felt he had earned the right to take the final shot in big games. It was his team, and his “Jimmy Chitwood moment” as my boy Bill Simmons writes. Jackson obviously chose correctly as the Bulls won the game. Though I feel it should have been Pippen’s moment, he earned it by carrying that team all season, he did act like a jackass throughout the ordeal. To Jackson’s defense, Pippen had never been in a moment like that before, and for whatever reason didn’t trust him with the biggest shot of the season. The bottom line is the Bulls won, and Scottie should have been happy with the outcome. It does remain to be the dark moment of his solo act in Chicago without Jordan. Which is too bad when you look at the season he had. Here were is rounded yearly averages for ’93-94: 22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 1 block per game. One hell of a year!

I may have never had to write this long ass post if it wasn’t for one failed fourth quarter in the 2000 Western Conference Finals. Pippen was the leader of a talented but misguided Portland Trail Blazers team that battled the young combination of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in one of the greatest seven game series of all time. The upstart Lakers were coached by Phil Jackson, as if you don’t remember. Pippen’s Blazers had a 17 point lead during the fourth quarter of game seven before completely falling apart and allowing the Lakers to pull off one the the NBA’s greatest comebacks and begin a dynasty of their own.

I think if Portland won that series and defeated the Indiana Pacers in The Finals that season, which they would have done, Pippen would have earned his seventh ring, giving him one more than Jordan and illustrating part of his legacy without mentioning Jordan- for at least one chapter.

Jordan never won a title before or after Scottie. In fact, Pippen came closer to winning a title without Jordan than Jordan did without Pippen. Just saying.

I hope Pippen will be remembered for what he was- one of the game’s all time versatile players, a historical defender and bona fide star. An all time great. A player who could get you 20-8-7 per night while locking down the opponent’s best player on defense.

I have a feeling some won’t look at his career the way I do. Most will remember him as a sidekick, a player who accomplished what he did due to the fact that he balled with the best ever.

I hope he gets his due.

I hope this isn't turning into another 1000 page Pippen argument thread like the one I made last summer.

If this is the case, then the mods should UNLOCK my legendary Pippen threads of 2011. :shrug:

 

[ChitwnRyan60452]

Here's how I know Karl Malone is Special person: Dan Patrick had to qualify the question to him by saying he couldn't take John Stockton.

 

[houheffna]

Those "legendary" Pippen threads had a bunch of legendary bullshit in them.

Pippen was as good as Jordan....bullshit
Pippen was better than Barkley....bullshit
Pippen better than Lebron James....bullshit
Pippen robbed of the MVP....bullshit
Pippen robbed of DPOY....bullshit
Grant Hill never would have been the player Pippen was had he been healthy....again, bullshit.

Those threads were a case study in basketball retardation...nothing to brag about...just legendary stupidity.

 

[JosMin]

Karl Malone would've also taken Mark Eaton second to build that franchise.

 

[Chi-Town Brahma]

Well, at least Malone is being honest.......I think.. :lol: