Scottie Pippen often came second in his career except for being on the team that won the NBA title 6 out of 8 years in the 1990s. Pippen was an excellent two-way player, particularly excelling in playmaking and defense. So how exactly did Pippen come second? The answer is simple enough, his teammate, Michael Jordan just happened to be the greatest player of all time.
Having to be in Michael’s shadow caused some issues, and while they weren’t very prominent at the time, they have come to light a lot more in recent years. And one of the lesser-known examples of the sort of situations Pippen was often faced with is the 1990 Slam Dunk Contest where Pippen participated, but not a lot of hype came with it.
MJ’s dunks from the free-throw line are famous, they won him the Dunk contest, yet Pippen’s was no less impressive. Yet, despite doing something that only a few players would be able to manage, Pippen didn’t even get out of the first round of the contest.
Pippen had two dunks in the contest and his first, the jam from behind the free-throw line, earned him a score of just 47. His next dunk somehow impressed the judges even less, they have him a score of 45, meaning he missed out on making it to the next round. The contest was eventually won by Dominique Wilkins.
Fans couldn’t believe they hadn’t seen or heard much about these videos of Pippen in the dunk contest, with many reacting in awe of his dunk.
“This man has been getting the cold shoulder his whole life. No wonder he’s had enough and finally had to vent.”
“Nice but no sauce on it…”
“How come this is the first time I’ve seen this footage?”
“He got hosed.”
“Pippen been wanting to be like MJ his whole career.”
“Also He dribbled and dunked. MJ never dribbled. He just ran and dunked.”
“Am I the only one here who had no idea Pippen was even in a dunk contest?”
“50. Jumped back further than Jordan or Dr J.”
“They played my boy Scottie that was a clear 50 he jumped from line.”
Pippen is likely to agree that he should have deserved a lot more love for this dunk and a lot of his other contributions on the basketball court. And while his legacy will never really approach Michael Jordan, the NBA community as a whole should appreciate Pippen a lot more considering what a true legend he was.
