In the most recent episode of ‘The Shop,’ LeBron James spoke about all kinds of different and interesting subjects.
At one point during the show, he was asked what players he would like to team up with, and gave Steph Curry as the modern-day choice.
As surprising as it was, he shocked the world further when he named Scottie Pippen as the player he most wants to team up with on an All-Time scale. As James explained to his friends, he sees himself in Pippen in ways he doesn’t in others — not even Kobe or Jordan.
“It’s crazy, I love Scottie Pippen bro. Obviously, MJ was crazy, Kobe would have been another one,” LeBron said. “But Scottie Pippen and Penny Hardaway were my two because I see myself in them. Like, I saw myself in Pippen and Penny.”
James has already surpassed Pippen in almost every single possible metric. He has scored more points, grabbed more rebounds, dished more assists, and has multiple MVPs.
Still, there are similarities when it comes to how they play on the basketball court and Pippen was no scrub. He retired in 2004 as a 7x All-Star, 6x Champion, 7x All-NBA player, and 10x All-Defensive player.
It’s also no secret that Pippen has a very high opinion of James.
“In the 80s on the playgrounds you’d have everyone moving the ball around — passing to help the team,” Pippen wrote in his book. “That stopped in the 90s. Kids wanted to be ‘Like Mike.’ Well, Mike didn’t want to pass — didn’t want to rebound, or defend the best player. He wanted everything done for him. That’s why I always believed LeBron James was the greatest player this game has ever seen — he does everything and embodies what the game is truly about.”
Like Pippen, LeBron does a little bit of everything. He scores the ball, defends the best players, and is able to get his teammates involved. And while we will never see Pippen and James take the court together, one could imagine how such an arrangement might work and why they’d be ideal partners.
In the real world, James, 37, has just three games left of his nightmarish season. After such a disappointing campaign, he could’ve used a guy like Scottie to help keep the Lakers afloat. Instead, he’s stuck thinking about hypotheticals as his peers look ahead to the race for the Championship.
Perhaps next year, he’ll get one step closer to matching Pippen in the one major category where it counts the most…
