Scotty Pippen Jr. Says Father Faked Injuries During One-on-One Games

The son of Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen explained why the two no longer play head to head.

Scotty Pippen Jr. is blazing his own trail on the basketball court.

The former Vanderbilt standout is a two-time first-team All-SEC selection who led the conference in scoring last season. Although Pippen wasn't selected in the 2022 NBA draft last week, he did sign a two-way contract with the Lakers soon thereafter.

That said, his father's professional career casts a long shadow. Scottie Pippen won six NBA championships as Michael Jordan's running mate with the Bulls and was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

So it’s not surprising that the younger Pippen, who spells his first name with a “y” as opposed to “ie,” gets questions about his famous father. In one such situation Tuesday, he was queried about one-on-one games between dad and son—and his reply was fairly awesome. (He discusses those games in the clip below, beginning at the 2:15 mark.)

“My dad stopped playing me,” Pippen Jr. told reporters. “I was wearing him out. I used to beat him, and he would fake injuries and stuff. He wouldn’t give me the credit, so we stopped playing a while ago.” 

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Pippen Jr. said the two played together during the COVID-19 lockdown until dad pulled the plug on their games.

“We were in the house locked up, and we used to start playing,” Pippen Jr. said. “Then he would be like, ‘I’m not going to get hurt playing with you.’ So we stopped playing.”

Pippen averaged 17.5 points and 4.3 assists in three seasons at Vanderbilt. He will play alongside Shareef O'Neal, son of Shaquille, for the Lakers in the upcoming Summer League.

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