Scottie Pippen was one of the fiercest defenders in the NBA during his active days. He was a key piece for the Chicago Bulls in their quest to win six NBA championships in the 90s. The small forward is one of the best two-way players in league history, and he proved that by facing incredible names during his career.
The six-time NBA champion had incredible challenges to overcome during his career, as he guarded extremely talented players. During a new interview with TrashTalkProduction, Pippen opened up on his new book, where he takes shots at Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls, and more people.
He was asked to name the three toughest players he had to guard during his Chicago Bulls tenure, picking three stars that made his life really hard during those years (13:19).
“I’d say, Dominique Wilkins, Adrian Dantley… Magic [Johnson],” Pippen replied.
These three players were a menace for defenders during his prime. Pippen had more duels with the first two since they were part of the Eastern Conference, but for Magic, he had to wait until the playoffs to have bigger duels. They only had crashed in the Finals once, in 1991, where the Bulls dominated the Los Angeles Lakers to win their first of six championships.
Scottie played a big role in that championship, as he took the not-so-easy task of locking up Magic, who couldn’t do much against Scottie. Michael Jordan took the Finals MVP that year, but there’s no doubt that Pippen’s defensive effort impacted the series more than people like to admit.
He retired as one of the greatest two-way players of all time, and he takes pride in that. Scottie faced big challenges during his career, but only three players made things harder for him.
