Scottie Pippen "I was more than just a role player

In my opinion Scottie Maurice Pippen help revolutionize the point forward position and usher in a new age of ball players who were both athletically breathtaking and fundamentally sound at the same time. To say he was just a sidekick or crony would be undermining the brilliant career of one of the best wing man to ever play the game. Before him point guards were the ones responsible for bringing the ball up court and iniating the offense. With his ball handling abilities the bulls guards were allowed to go spot up for threes and Jordan could conserve energy without having to iniate every single possession himself. Without Jordan there is no Pippen and without Pippen there is no Jordan.

• Pippen's ability to play point forward and guard the other team's best player set him apart from a lot of his contemporaries. Pippen , Jordan, and Grant allowed Johnny Bach to unleash what he called his doberman defense to unleash hell on other teams by trapping and picking up pressure full court. During the Bulls encounter with the Lakers during their championship run Phil Jackson switched Michael Jordan off of Magic Johnson and put Scottie Pippen on him because he was a bigger version of Michael and he could pressure man to man as well as play the passing lanes.This was one of the moves that helped changed the tide of that series which the Bulls eventually won.
• Pippen's talents were often over looked because he played beside Michael Jordan, but if you take a look at what happened when his Airness went off to supposedly play baseball, Scottie had two of the best years statistically of his career.
• In 1993-1994 when Jordan retired Pippen finally emerged from his shadow and displayed the ability that we all knew he had. He earned All Star MVP honors, led the Bulls in scoring,assists and the entire league in steals, averaging 22pts, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.9 steals, 1.9 threes, 1 block, while shooting 49% from the field and 32% from the three point line. For his efforts he earned the first of 3 straight All NBA First Team honors, finished third in MVP voting and led the Bulls to 55 wins two fewer than the year before with Jordan. No disrespect to Hakeem, but Pippen should have won MVP that year.
• The following year Pippen became one of only four men in history to lead his team in assists, points, rebounds, steals and blocks. If that is not versatility then I want to know what is. Lamar Odom couldn't produce that shit on a fucking video game, so kill that shit about Pippen being a sidekick or role player. Role players don't lead shit or finish third in anything unless it's disappointing mutherfuckers.
• People compared Grant Hill to Mike. I think a better comparison would have been him and Scottie. Scottie could dunk on anyone (JUST ASK PATRICK EWING), run the show, D you up, rebound and hit the three with the best of them.
• His best quality was realizing that ego maniac Jordan needed to be the man and filling in the blanks for the Bulls. He carved out a career in doing all the less glamorous shit and making it look good.
• His own team didn't realize what they had and wanted to replace him with Toni Kukoc. Scottie's response was to shut his ass down in the 92 Olympics and show the world that he was the second most versatile player on the planet to Michael Jordan. Think Pippen didn't like challenges or the spotlight. Remember when Van Gundy had Larry Johnson guard Michael Jordan in an effort to slow him down. Scottie having his boy's back went out and scored 47 on the Knicks and showed them the Bulls were more than just a one trick pony.
• Who could ever forget Scottie dunking on Patrick Ewing in the Conf Semis and telling Spike Lee to sit his dumbass down. Also what role player do you know that had his own shoe with Nike and was a member of the original dream team.
• To sum things up when I look at the Bulls I saw SUPERMAN(MICHAEL JORDAN), BATMAN(SCOTTIE PIPPEN) AND RODMAN(DENNIS RODMAN). Scottie belongs in the top 50 because numbers don't always describe a player's impact on a game. Scottie was one of the few players who could dominate a game without scoring points and his ability to guard anyone at anytime changed how you played the Bulls. Congrats on your induction onto the HOF and hopefully  James can live up to your stature while he is down in South Beach playing second fiddle to Wade.
• I'm out like Tigeer Wood's game