Chicago Bulls: 5 best Michael Jordan teammates on ‘The Last Dance’ team
1. Scottie Pippen, Forward
Rodman and Kukoc were very good pieces of the supporting cast for Jordan. But the best member of the roster surrounding Jordan for pretty much every season he played for the Bulls was 6-foot-8 and 210 pound small forward Scottie Pippen. The former Arkansas Razorback and first round pick of the Bulls in the 1987 NBA Draft would make his value known almost immediately.
And Pippen was still producing at a high level during the 1997-98 season, at 32 years old. He averaged 19.1 points per game, 5.8 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.0 blocks, while shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from beyond the arc during the 1997-98 regular season. Pippen somehow didn’t get an All-Star selection in this season in particular, though.
But that was likely part of the doing of injury problems that he ran into, allowing him to pay in just roughly half of the regular season games (44). A 112 offensive rating and just a 99 defensive rating are good numbers for a regular season run where Pippen wasn’t named an All-Star too. He also registered a 5.0 box plus/minus rating and .193 win shares per 48 minutes.
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In the playoffs in 1998, Pippen averaged 16.8 points per game, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.2 assists. It was a good sign to see a 32-year-old Pippen still producing at the level he was in the twilight of his run with the Bulls.
All in all, Pippen is already a Hall-of-Famer with seven career All-Star selections, six-time NBA Champion, and 10-time All-Defensive Team selection.