Quitten whining his way out of Portland, wants to win rings by riding more coat tails

Pippen's trail may lead out (Sam Smith)

Pippen a Laker next season? I'd count on it. he is a free agent.
He does have some good points about Blazer management though.

Pippen's trail may lead out

December 16, 2002


Dragging through the end of a road trip last week with his Portland Trail Blazers, Scottie Pippen sounded frustrated as he tried to make sense of the NBA's most dysfunctional team while the team awaited a tipoff in Milwaukee.

Talking about how his old friend on the Bulls, Horace Grant, had been waived by the Orlando Magic, the 37-year-old Pippen was asked whether this is his final season.

"I have a little more hunger in me to play. I'd like to win one more championship, so obviously I'm not leaving this year," Pippen said, a smile slowly crossing his hard facial features. There's not as much attention on Pippen as there is on Michael Jordan, and not as much expectation to produce. But there's still quite a bit to Pippen's game. He is averaging only 9.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists this season, but he's running the team at point forward.

"I still feel good about my game," he said. "I don't score the way I used to. Or defend. I'm capable of doing the things I've done throughout my career, but I can't because the team is so overstocked.

"You've got so many guys playing, it's tougher to get in the flow. Although Maurice [Cheeks, the coach] and I have a great relationship. He keeps me happy and enjoying the game."

But now in his fourth season in Portland--and the final one on a contract that pays him $19.7 million this season--Pippen remains frustrated with the way Blazers management has run the team. He admits he even has thought about playing for Jordan in Washington next season.

"We kind of joked about it," Pippen said about playing against the Wizards last week. "He's been hiring a lot of NBA guys. Maybe I could go down there and learn from him about being a general manager. My mind is open about Portland, but I have heard rumors they want to trade me. I heard Golden State made an offer. I'm content here. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to go somewhere I could still win, be in the postseason and make a run."

Pippen knows that could be with the Lakers, where he says he could consider going as a free agent after this season. He remains a big admirer of Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson and credits him for pulling off what became Pippen's biggest disappointment as a pro, when the Lakers wiped out Portland's 15-point fourth-quarter lead and won Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference finals, which probably cost Pippen a seventh NBA title.

"That's the sign of a good coach," Pippen said. "That's where his presence was felt. He had them patient and poised, running that offense. Just like they did the other night against Dallas.

"They always say he's had the best players. Well, a lot of good players haven't won. They're still the team to beat."

And not the Blazers, though Pippen winces every time he thinks of what might have been.

"It's always changes in Portland," Pippen said. "We come as close as anyone to beating the Lakers, playing against the greatest center ever [Shaquille O'Neal]. Then [the Blazers let] Jermaine O'Neal go. They go get Shawn Kemp. That had to be the worst move in pro sports.

"They've done the wrong things for the community because they broke up a team the fans could get behind. As a fan, you want to see things gradually improve. That's the way it was in Chicago. But it's been going the other way since I've been in Portland. We get rid of Steve Smith. Steve Kerr comes and you ship him right back. Maybe I'll be the next one off the ship."

That 1999-2000 team won 59 games but traded Jermaine O'Neal, now an All-Star in Indiana, and Brian Grant. Then it won 50 games and added Ruben Patterson, Derek Anderson and Kerr. Then it got rid of Kerr and added . . .

"You've got to build relationships," Pippen says. "You've got to build chemistry. You can't do that in one season and then try to go out and play against teams, good teams in the Western Conference, that have been together.

"That's why we start out so slowly every year. We want to get off to a good start," he says of the 11-11 team, "but it's tough. We play 10 guys some nights. How do you think guys respond when you pay them that kind of money? They think they've got to go out and do something to earn their money. They've got to score. That's what kills chemistry. We'll win some games, but when the dust settles, we'll be under the dust.

"I've been here four years, but they don't want your opinion on anything," said Pippen, who says he has been rebuffed in attempts to speak with management. "I don't know if there is a future for me here. If not, trade me if they want. If you ever talk to them, you've got to do it through the papers to get their attention. I've tried to talk to them. They want you to win, but how do you do that if you keep pulling people out of the stands and say, `Here, play with us.'

"You keep throwing guys out there and say you're going to win. They want you to win, but they keep breaking up the pieces. How are you going to win? I think I figured it out. They don't want to win. They're just trying to excite the crowd [with constant acquisitions]. Right now with all this stuff happening, the crowd isn't too excited. I think the fans understand me. They [management] tell you to say the right thing. I'm saying the right thing now."