Scottie Pippen = Brian O’Conner
Every alpha needs a right-hand man. Whether that’s in a street-racing heist crew or a basketball team. Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen, and Dominic Toretto had Brian O’Conner.
Both Pippen and O’Conner were extremely overqualified to be right-hand men. On most teams or in most movies, they’d be dominant alphas. But that’s the magic of the old Bulls and the “Fast & Furious” movies. When your second guy is as good as Pippen or O’Conner, you know you have a special product in front of you.
The biggest test a second-fiddle will ever face is when they’re forced to perform while the top dog is taking a break. For Pippen, this was the case when Jordan temporarily retired in the mid-’90s to play baseball. For O’Conner, this was the case in “2 Fast 2 Furious,” the second movie of the franchise and the first that didn’t feature Vin Diesel in a primary role. And guess what! Both Pippen and O’Conner thrived in their limited time as the main dudes. They’re both true superstars.