Pippen's Hall of Fame Induction: Sharing the Same Stage

1992 Barcelona Spain Olympics, Michael Jordan had a breakaway play unopposed as he ran ahead of everybody. Following him intently was Scottie Pippen. Everybody anticipated a highlight reel when suddenly Jordan in a split second stop and throw the ball to the side of the board as Scottie caught the ball in mid-air with a monstrous slam. MJ shared the limelight… and for some it was just an assist but for Scottie it was a sign of respect and acceptance.

Life isn’t a bed of roses for Scottie, when others got recruitments from different universities he was only a walk-in at the University of Central Arkansas and work as a team manager and a summer job as a wielder to support his education. Scottie work hard on the NBA pre draft camp in 1987 that it created a buzz among the teams around that Jerry Krause had to make a deal for Olden Polynice to get Pippen’s services. There were no shortcuts, you have to work everything out and maybe that’s the reason why Pippen became who he is.
6 NBA championships, 7 All-star appearances and 10 time all-defensive team, Scottie has finally made it to the top of basketball mount Olympus as he will be inducted in the basketball hall of fame the highest honor any player could achieve. Phil Jackson calls him “the one man wrecking crew” defending almost all positions from one to five with his long stride and lengthy arms. He made 200 steals and 100 blocks on one season one of the three NBA players that made that feat. He was the perfect teammate and the perfect sidekick to Michael. He filled in those gaps that needed to be filled. He shoots, passes, defends and dives for loose balls and when Michael retired and played baseball Scottie led his team all the way to 55 wins. He came out of Michael’s shadow with hardwork and perseverance.

Pippen can’t think of any other person who could present him into the Basketball hall of fame. It was Horace Grant that became one of his closest friends after being drafted on the same year together but it was Michael Jordan that gave him his toughest challenge. Michael was already a star when he was a rookie and it made him work doubly hard to get his acceptance to get his respect. It was 18 years ago when Michael shared the limelight with him and now Scottie would like to return that favor. Once again the two greatest duo of all time shared the stage for one last time.