He was all-nba 1st/2nd team for 5 years (1st team 3 years), and all-nba D 1st/2nd team for 10 years (1st team for 8 years). That was a stretch from 91-98. He was arguably THE best perimeter player in 93-96 when MJ was out, and made all-nba 1st teams in all those 3 years. In the first year without MJ, he put up 22, 9, 6 with 3 steals. Ridiculous. Not even close, in your opinion?
You must have never heard of Clyde Drexler, or Hakeem Olajuwon, or Charles Barkley, or Karl Malone, or Michael Jordan, John Stockton, or David Robinson, or Shaq, or Payton and TONS TONS more that I haven't mentioned. You are putting Scottle Pippen above most of these guys? And LOL at you throwing around the "all nba team" as if that meant the world. Shaq averaged 29, 13, 2, 1, 2 at 60% FG percentage and he was on All-NBA THIRD team behind David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon. So yes, not even close.
1) Because Shaq wasn't dominant defensively like those 2 guys, and those 2 guys put up just as good of offensive stats. And those guys were better than Shaq in Shaq's early years. 2) And you're spewing names based off of their "careers". I'm talking about a prime window in Pippen's career that encompass 4-5 years. It's like saying if McGrady was a top 5 player in his prime. But if you name off the list of players that played in his era 20 years after he's done, most people would laugh at you that you had McGrady in the top 5, when he clearly was. Only real basketball heads would know TMAC was top 5 in his prime from 01-05. That's a 4-year window. Pippen's peak prime started in 91 and ended in 96. Pippen for a 3 year window period (91-94) was arguably the best perimeter player in the league (yes, better than Clyde and Stockton) when MJ was out b/c he put up just as good of offensive stats, but a whole world of difference on the defensive end. And career-wise, he's better than Gary Payton, what are you smoking there? He led his teams deep in the playoffs even in the 3 years without MJ. We're talking about peak prime, not an entire career.
Why do you keep fluctuating between team achievement and individual achievement? And what am I smoking because I think Payton had a better career than Pippen? Are you serious? This is where we should stop because you clearly haven't seen any of these guys play. In the history of DPOY, Gary Payton is one of four guards to win that honor. Besides the ring count, Payton has easily just as much if not more accolades than Scottie Pippen. And sure, we can talk about peak prime. In 1991-1994, I could think of a good number of players better than Pippen. Hakeem, Robinson, Shaq, Stockton, Malone, Charles Barkley are the few off the top of my head. Sure, Pippen may have been one of the best perimeter players in the league in his prime, but top 5 player? Not even close. And deep in the playoffs my ass. Get your facts straight. They were eliminated in the second round without MJ, is that "deep in the playoffs" or has the amount of first round exits that the Rockets suffered clouded your objective judgment?
I keep fluctuating between both achievements because Pippen had both. And if you think Gary Payton is the better player than Scottie in their primes, I don't know what to say. And I don't think Stockton was better than Pippen during that stretch. Pippen elevated his game without MJ and brought that team to the 2nd round, which is something Kobe couldn't do without a legit 2nd option. Pippen had Toni Kukoc as his 2nd option then and he got to the 2nd round. Kobe got Pau last year and lost in the 2nd round. You're telling me that's not deep enough? The East in the early to mid-90s was competitive as hell. I disagree with you. To me, in that stretch of 91-94, Pippen was the best perimeter player in the league, and a top 3 2-way player in the league, behind just Hakeem and Robinson. EDIT: I'm updating as ESPN keeps updating. #5 is Dirk, #4 is Paul It's cool. But I think he's clearly better than Amare/Bosh though. Pau is very underrated defensively, something Amare doesn't do, and Bosh doesn't do enough.
My fault, was keep thinking about the year MJ went to baseball. Idiotic of me. Good call out. So he was behind MJ, Hakeem, and Drob. But he was top 3 in 93-94.
yeah so for those seasons, pick a player in the league that could be the best perimeter player on the bulls, saying jordan is better than pippen doesn't really mean pippen wasn't a top 3 or 5
I agree with you as far as Pippen being great in his prime... But he definitely wasnt a top 5 player in those years... Centers and guards ruled that era ...
That is like saying perimeter/offensive players rule this era and Dwight is not a top 5 player. Pippen in his prime was a 20 point scorer, rebounder, passer, playmaker, and shutdown defender. There were only 3-4 guys who were as complete as Pippen as a player for a 3-5 year stretch. We are not talking careers now. Defense is vastly underrated still today. Guys like Rodman and Ben Wallace made all-nba and all-star teams just off of defense, and Pippen was a terror defensively.
There top 5 came out. 1.LeBron James 2.Dwight Howard 3.Dwayne Wade 4.Chris Paul 5.Dirk Nowitzki Don't agree with this list at all.
No its different because Dwight stands out as a top 5 player among this perimeter oriented era... Pippen didnt stand out as a top 5 player during the "frontcourt era"... Again Im not disputing his greatness and impact during those years in question, just dont see him in the top 5 argument...
