Scottie Pippen believes he should’ve been named Defensive Player of the Year at some point in his career.
The Chicago Bulls legend caught up with Trash Talk’s Bastien Fontanieu in the above clip, and opened up about his time in the league in promotion of his book, Unguarded. When Fontanieu asked Pippen “what happened” with him never earning the honor during his 17 years in the game, the Hall of Famer got honest.
“I think they were too busy watching Michael [Jordan],” Pippen said.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Pippen spoke on his thoughts on the current state of the NBA, and shared some defensive tips for young kids needing a little instruction from one of the greats.
“I would always lean on the wall for three to five minutes, put myself in a defensive stance, I sort of adapted wanting to be in that stance when I’m out on that basketball court,” Pippen said. “When I was a young kid, my coach used to tell me that I stood up too much, so I had to learn to play lower.”
During his 17 seasons in the NBA, Pippen took home 6 championships and was named an all star 7 times, despite never earning the DPOY title. That title went to Dennis Rodman, David Robinson, and even his teammate Jordan during Pippen’s time in the NBA, among other defensive greats. Pippen averaged 2.0 steals and 0.8 blocks throughout his career, and during the 1994-95 season with the Bulls, he saw a career-high average of 2.9 steals.
Last year, while promoting his book, Pippen spoke to SiriusXM and seemingly discredited Jordan’s “Flu Game,” asking if it was “easier to play with a herniated disc or to play with the flu.”
“Well, I don’t see many bad back games, but I do see flu games. Flu. Come on,” he said.
