Scotty Pippen was blessed with great teammates, including the great Michael Jordan. Despite having an eventful career with many outstanding players, Pippen would have loved to play with Kobe Bryant.
During his illustrious NBA career, Scotty Pippen had a long list of talented teammates. The chief of them is Michael Jordan, known as one of the greatest basketball players ever.
As he was used to playing with Jordan, Pippen shows interest in learning the dynamics of playing with other players. This includes Kobe Bryant, one of the most similar players to Jordan.
During many matches, Pippen realized how Kobe played with certain defenders like Bonji Wells. It led him to theorize about how they worked on the same team.
Former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles head coach Phil Jackson has already been selected among two shooting guards. But Pippen would have wanted to know more about Bryant.
Most people knew Bryant throughout their time with the Los Angeles Lakers, so only the Lakers players knew him well. Pippen was always on a rival team and never played with Bryant outside the All-Star Game.
They would have had a great dynamic, especially in Pippen’s experience with Jordan. Pippen would have been a great running buddy for Black Mamba, as Bryant and Jordan had similar archetypes.
“My best teammate I’ve ever played is Michael Jordan, and I have no doubt about that. I say I wish I had played every day, every day, but I didn’t play.
“Kobe idolized the way I played the game, the way I defended. He started calling me after I retired and asked me questions about various situations.
“He was a great student in the game and asked me how he would protect Michael in these situations. He was trying to improve his craft.”
Bryant is known for always talking to older players and seeking advice. Jordan was among those players, as evidenced by his air story at Bryant’s 2020 memorial.
Bryant was always motivated because he wanted to be the best in the world in the 1996 draft class and many other areas. It was a victory-focused laser, and he did it five times in the NBA.
Pippen was also one of the players he wanted to continue talking to. Bryant even went in 2007 as long as he recruited Pippen. Of course, Pippen was already in his 40s, but when we met, it was clear.
Bryant has been hard to impress during his NBA career, but he admired players like Pippen. It was great to see them play with each other, but it didn’t work.