"Pippen was the best player in the world in 93, 94, 95" - Dennis Rodman

[97 bulls]

pippen provided full service for 8 years man dont discredit that

anyone in the bball would kill to trade their #2 option for pipp

any team from the 90s would

Both Barkely and Drexler publicly said that Jordan had Pippen when he faced their teams. Barkely said it to his Jordans face. And Jordan never denied or argued it.

[90sgoat]

Both Barkely and Drexler publicly said that Jordan had Pippen when he faced their teams. Barkely said it to his Jordans face. And Jordan never denied or argued it.

Barkley had Kevin Johnson, Danny Ainge, Dan Majerle, which is waaay more talent than Pippen and Grant.

[3ball]

of all the teams you played what #2 option are you trading pippen for?

If I'm only allowed to compare Pippen to 2nd options, then you're conceding that he's already below elite 1st options like Ewing or Drexler.

So Ewing and Drexler are above Pippen.

Now let's talk 2nd options (below).

of all the teams you played what #2 option are you trading pippen for?

Stockton/Malone were old when they destroyed Shaq, Duncan and Hakeem to make the 98' Finals, so Stockton/MJ would've done the same thing and won every year, especially PEAK stockton.

Peak Stockton averaged 17/14 with 3 steals, so he would've won with MJ right away... And again, they would win in 98' as experienced, older players just like Stockton/Malone did..

Ultimately, Stockton has twice as many all-nba as Pippen with superior stats across the board (8th all-time in BPM) and won 50 games with deep runs for 20 years - so you're simply discounting Stockton's accomplishments because MJ stopped him from winning the title.. You're ranking by ring count (6 to 0), but stockton played FAR better than pippen ever did.

There's tons of other examples (below)

of all the teams you played what #2 option are you trading pippen for?

Pippen was outplayed by Penny in 95' and 96', who was viewed as superior... And the 96' Finals saw Pippen get destroyed by Kemp or Payton - Krause started trying to trade Pippen for Kemp after the series.. Pippen was trade bait a number of times.

Furthermore, Jordan had to deal with young Pippen, who was literally a bum in 88' and 89' - anyone would've been better than Pippen those years and he was easy to trade... 90' Dumars was all-nba and 1st team defense, while Pippen was nothing and outplayed in the ECF... Tons of GM's would've traded Pippen for Dumars at that time.

And there's tons of other examples... Larry Johnson (LJ) was the #1 pick in 92' and rode high for a while, including a destruction of Pippen in the 95' first round as 2nd option... Tons of GM's would've traded Pippen for Johnson if it was a solid deal around that time... Ditto for 97' Juwan Howard, who destroyed Pippen in the 1st Round and people were extremely high on him at the time.

[97 bulls]

Barkley had Kevin Johnson, Danny Ainge, Dan Majerle, which is waaay more talent than Pippen and Grant.

That's not the way they saw it. Drexler had great teammates as well. I only stated that to show how Hall of fame players felt at that time.

[3ball]

Both Barkely and Drexler publicly said that Jordan had Pippen when he faced their teams. Barkely said it to his Jordans face. And Jordan never denied or argued it.

The 92' Blazers and 91' Lakers had better-ranked defense, rebounding, and FAR more scorers than Bulls.

Those Blazers had 2 all-star scorers after Drexler, while a 3rd scorer (Jerome Kersey) was a frequent 20 ppg scorer and led the team in scoring for the 90' Western Playoffs - this allowed Drexler to average only 18 while making those Finals (stacked team).

In addition to having 4 scorers to only 2 for the Bulls, the Blazers had perennial all-defender Buck Williams, who was far superior to Grant.

And the 91' Lakers had 4 guys average 17+ in the Finals (4 scorers to only 2 for the Bulls)

Similarly, the 96' Sonics and 93' Suns had far more scorers and nearly the same ranked defense.

Only the Jazz didn't have more talent than the Bulls

[Sarcastic]

Not only was he never the best player in the NBA, I'd argue that he wasn't even top 5 in any of those seasons. He's was a top 10ish level player for most of his career.

[And1AllDay]

Barkley had Kevin Johnson, Danny Ainge, Dan Majerle, which is waaay more talent than Pippen and Grant.

[97 bulls]

The 92' Blazers and 91' Lakers had better-ranked defense, rebounding, and FAR more scorers than Bulls.

Those Blazers had 2 all-star scorers after Drexler, while a 3rd scorer (Jerome Kersey) was a frequent 20 ppg scorer and led the team in scoring for the 90' Western Playoffs - this allowed Drexler to average only 18 while making those Finals (stacked team).

In addition to having 4 scorers to only 2 for the Bulls, the Blazers had perennial all-defender Buck Williams, who was far superior to Grant.

And the 91' Lakers had 4 guys average 17+ in the Finals (4 scorers to only 2 for the Bulls)

Similarly, the 96' Sonics and 93' Suns had far more scorers and nearly the same ranked defense.

Only the Jazz didn't have more talent than the Bulls

I see your point. The Suns and Blazers had a lot of depth. But that's not quite how sports works. Would you trade 5 Hinad Accords for 1 Lamborghini?

The Bulls were constructed differently. They had guys that were great at doing what was asked of them. They Didnt need Pax and Kerr to score 20 a night. They needed then to be the best sharpshooters in the game and they were. Theh didnt need their Centers to dominate offensively, they needed then to set good hard picks for Jordan and Pippen, rebound and play defense. And hit the open jumper. They didnt need Grant and Rodman to score 20/10. They needed them to play tough defense and rebound. And they were the best at it.

That's why I say the easy some evaluate these players is more video game type stuff. Not real life basketball.

[97 bulls]

Not only was he never the best player in the NBA, I'd argue that he wasn't even top 5 in any of those seasons. He's was a top 10ish level player for most of his career.

You are obviously entitled to your opinion. So tell us. Why do you think Pippen is so highly regard by so many? By the professionals?

[3ball]

Suns had 3 all-star scoring options (only 2 for Bulls), plus this guy:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HyzIKvx9gmk&t=07m40s


They had more talent than the Bulls

[tpols]

I see your point. The Suns and Blazers had a lot of depth. But that's not quite how sports works. Would you trade 5 Hinad Accords for 1 Lamborghini?

The Bulls were constructed differently. They had guys that were great at doing what was asked of them. They Didnt need Pax and Kerr to score 20 a night. They needed then to be the best sharpshooters in the game and they were. Theh didnt need their Centers to dominate offensively, they needed then to set good hard picks for Jordan and Pippen, rebound and play defense. And hit the open jumper. They didnt need Grant and Rodman to score 20/10. They needed them to play tough defense and rebound. And they were the best at it.

That's why I say the easy some evaluate these players is more video game type stuff. Not real life basketball.

If you swapped MJ and Clyde, the Blazers wouldve easily won. He was the difference maker and took over that series.

[ImKobe]

That's not the way they saw it. Drexler had great teammates as well. I only stated that to show how Hall of fame players felt at that time.

Majerle was better than him in that Finals series. They needed Jordan to average 41 and it was still anyone's series. That alone tells you that Pippen was not that good. Suns had 4 of the 6 best players in the '93 Finals but Jordan pulled off the all-time carry job.

If you swapped MJ and Clyde, the Blazers wouldve easily won. He was the difference maker and took over that series.

100%. Also, you could replace Pippen with Clyde and the Bulls still win 6 championships, maybe even more if you put Clyde on the Bulls in '89.

[97 bulls]

If you swapped MJ and Clyde, the Blazers wouldve easily won. He was the difference maker and took over that series.

The 92 Blazers without Drexler were 2-4. We saw what the Bulls could do without Jordan in 94. Just in case you forgot, the Bulls won 55 games.

And before you try to argue sample size. Dont forget that you guys base players whole careers on what they did in a 5, 6, or 7 game playoff series.

[97 bulls]

Majerle was better than him in that Finals series. They needed Jordan to average 41 and it was still anyone's series. That alone tells you that Pippen was not that good. Suns had 4 of the 6 best players in the '93 Finals but Jordan pulled off the all-time carry job.



100%. Also, you could replace Pippen with Clyde and the Bulls still win 6 championships, maybe even more if you put Clyde on the Bulls in '89.

Again. More revisionist history. I vividly remember a commercial the Bulls put out asking the fans to celebrate safely when they won the series when the Bulls went up 3-1 and had game 5 in Chicago. The Bulls never feared the Suns.

The only Series that scared me was the 98 series vs the Jazz. And that's only because Pippen hurt his back in game 6.

[ImKobe]

Again. More revisionist history. I vividly remember a commercial the Bulls put out asking the fans to celebrate safely when they won the series when the Bulls went up 3-1 and had game 5 in Chicago. The Bulls never feared the Suns.

The only Series that scared me was the 98 series vs the Jazz. And that's only because Pippen hurt his back in game 6.

Ok, and? How did they lose Game 5? Jordan had 41/7/7 on 16/29 FG to Barkley's 24/6/6 on 9/18 FG, surely the Bulls blew them out since MJ had the much better team, right?

'97 Finals was just as close, and that's with a better MJ and Pippen. It wasn't as scary because Bulls had home court. We need to stop underrating the Bulls' competition. This wasn't a thing until the 2010s, now Pippen's all of a sudden a top 3 player of his era and the Bulls were SO much better than everyone else.