Since the time LeBron James surfaced as a viable contender to claim the coveted title of greatest of all time or G. In , after Jordan announced an indefinite hiatus to pursue professional baseball in honor of his slain father, Pippen propelled the Bulls to the No. That year, Chicago reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals before bowing out to the Knicks in seven games. Without Pippen, the Bulls most likely stumble to a lottery berth that perhaps irreparably stunts the momentum of a franchise that would later earn its second three-peat within a decade.
However, Gasol never emerged as a bonafide superstar. Like Pippen, the seven-foot Spaniard was better suited to play second-fiddle on a great team than assume primary responsibilities on a middling roster.
Furthermore, following their win season in , Pippen and the Bulls encored with a record in the 65 games before Jordan returned from his first retirement to play the final 17 games of the season.
A narrative contending that Pippen is responsible for the Bulls championship glory recently surfaced on social media. Pippen also exhibited a tendency to disappear offensively during the most important contests. A year later, a year-old Dikembe Mutombo contributed Following the conclusion of the season, The Bulls traded Pippen to the Houston Rockets for Roy Rogers and a second-round pick in the following years draft.
Despite playing alongside an aging Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon, Pippen found himself relegated to third fiddle, averaging a pedestrian But instead of being traded to the Bulls for No. The Sonics also use the ninth overall pick on Horace Grant, who in "real life" helped Jordan, Pippen and the Bulls win three titles in the '90s. Following the season, Chambers signs a deal with the Phoenix Suns allowing Pippen to move into the starting lineup.
Without Pippen, the Bulls somehow land the fourth overall pick in the '89 draft and select sharpshooter Glen Rice to become Jordan's "sidekick. Pippen enjoys a spectacular ''90 campaign, averaging a little over 22 points per game and making the first of eight straight All-Star appearances.
The talented "point forward" eventually develops into one of the game's top all-around players. However, he is left off the '92 Olympic squad as Detroit's Isiah Thomas makes the cut instead. The Jordan and Rice-led Bulls don't win a title in '91, but end up winning back-to-back in '92 and ' Jordan retires for the first time in October ' Meanwhile, Pippen, Payton and Kemp develop into one of the league's most dangerous duos.
The Sonics, now a true title contender, lose to Hakeem Olajuwon's Houston Rockets in the '94 Western Conference Finals before capturing a title in ' Pippen is named Finals MVP. Jordan comes out of retirement and returns to Chicago, where he's surrounded with a championship-caliber supporting cast. In '97, Pippen just misses out at being named one of league's 50 greatest players. Dominique Wilkins makes the list instead.
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