With the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame recently inducting former Chicago Bulls great Scottie Pippen into their hallowed halls of greatness, what better time to give one of the NBA’s Top 50 Players of All Time his very own multi-part, weekly Player Rewind Series. Scottie was the antithesis of the 5 tool player with supreme abilities to handle the rock, score when needed, or play lock-down defense on virtually any player on the floor. Although he will forever be labeled a “sidekick” to the great Michael Jordan in their magnificent run in winning 6 NBA Titles, Scottie was undoubtedly a great man on and off the court from his humble beginnings in Hamburg, Arkansas to Olympic Gold Medalist, and eventually as a standard of greatness that many players of today’s game continue to strive for. Hopefully this series will serve to educate the youngsters about one of the greatest defensive players ever, while at the same time helping to reminisce on just how spectacular a player the man know as “Pip” really was.
Part 4 – The Shoes
Although Scottie’s partner in crime Michael Jordan, will always be remembered for the shoes that now bear his namesake, Pippen also had quite a collection of kicks that he wore over his illustrious career. A longtime supporter of Nike, Scottie almost single-handedly helped promote the Nike Flight series of basketball shoes throughout his early career. While Nike seemingly only focused on Jordan, they didn’t concentrate on giving Pippen his own signature shoe until the latter part of his career, appropriately called the “Air Pippen’s.”
Check out Scottie’s commercial spot for his first signature shoe – the Air Pippen I’s circa 1998:
Check out a chronological history of some of Scottie’s more memorable shoes:
1989 – Nike Air Flight
While sporting these kicks early in his career, Pippen became the Bulls starter at SF and earned his first nod as an NBA All Defensive Team selection.
1992 – Nike Air Flight II
In ‘92, Pippen wore these Air Flight II’s while helping the Bulls win their 2nd Championship and even showed them off internationally as part of the original “Dream Team,” helping to win his first of 2 Gold Medals.
1994 – Nike Air Maestro II
Pippen now famously sported these red Air Maestro’s in winning the ‘94 All Star Game MVP. He established career highs in ppg, steals, and rebounding during this time, with MJ off attempting to play baseball.
1996 – Nike Air More Uptempo
Even though he would later get his own signature shoe, these Air More Uptempo’s became Pip’s most popular shoes by fans, primarily for the giant letters spelling “AIR” on both sides. While wearing these shoes, Pippen became the first player to win both an NBA Championship and Gold Medal in the same season twice.
1999 – Nike Air Pippen II
After finally getting his own shoe, Scottie helped the Bulls finish off their second 3-peat and was named to the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players list. Teammate Michael Jordan once again rode off into the sunset, as Scottie began his Houston Rockets career.
2003 – Nike Zoom Flight 2K3
Over his final season in Portland and his return to Chicago in ‘03, which was cut short due to injury, Pippen wore these Zoom Flight 2K3‘s as he dished out his 6,000th assist, played in his 1,000th game, and passed Elgin Baylor for 8th place on the NBA’s All Time Career Playoff Scoring list.
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com,Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
