LeBron James and Scottie Pippen have been compared on more than one occasion. They are the premier point-forwards in NBA history and have similar styles of play. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar has earned comparisons with Magic Johnson, too, but there’s no doubt that he shares some abilities with Pippen.
They’re two of the greatest players of all time, but sadly, we never got to see them play against each other. However, while Scottie was still active, there was a chance for us to see him going against a young LeBron. Unfortunately, that never happened.
LeBron’s first season in the league happened to be Pippen’s last one, and they were really close to clashing on the court. Unfortunately, a knee injury prevented us from watching this duel at least once.
During the 2003/04 NBA season, Pippen played 23 games with the Chicago Bulls, but none of them was against the Cleveland Cavaliers. They clashed 4 times during that season, twice in December and twice in March. He played his last game in February against the Seattle Supersonics, so was unable to face the Cavs in March.
However, he could have done it in December, but a left knee made it impossible for him. On December 12, Scottie underwent arthroscopic surgery on that knee and was sidelined for several weeks.
Via ESPN:
Chicago Bulls forward Scottie Pippen underwent arthroscopic surgery on his troublesome left knee Friday and is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks.
“He had a lot of loose bodies floating around, and a small medial meniscus tear which was trimmed up,” Bulls trainer Fred Tedeschi said. “Probably in six weeks we’ll decide about resumption of basketball. The tear sort of explains his recent symptoms. He had trouble straightening out his leg.”
The Bulls only won one of the four duels against the Cavs during that season, where they missed the playoffs. They weren’t the mythical team of the 90s, and Scottie was well past his prime. Still, it would have been awesome to watch him against LeBron, at least once. They are two incredible players that did a lot for the game and watching them going at it would have been historical.
Now Bron is one of the top 2 players of all time in the eyes of many, while Pippen is also one of the greatest to lace them up. James teamed up with Michael Jordan when he was young, but there’s no footage of those matches. Unfortunately, we could never see him clashing with Pippen on an NBA court, either.
