Scottie Pippen All-Time Starting 5? Hall of Famer Includes Former Rockets Teammate, Then Backs Out

One-time Rocket Scottie Pippen shares his all-time starting five.

Jeremy Brener | May 4, 2022

Who's your all-time starting five?

That's a common question asked in NBA circles that constantly sparks debate, and this time it was posed to Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen.

Scottie Pippen

USATSI_5084178 — Dennis Wierzbicki/USA Today Sports

Scottie Pippen

USATSI_8535330 — Jeff Hanisch/USA Today Sports

Scottie Pippen

Pippen primarily played his career with the Chicago Bulls, but was traded to the Houston Rockets after 11 seasons in the Windy City.

Pippen was brought to Houston as part of one final push to keep the Rockets' championship window open in the 1990s and team up with fellow aging stars Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley.

The Rockets finished 31-19 in the lockout-shortened 1999 campaign, but failed to advance out of the first round of the playoffs. The season was defined by turmoil between Pippen and Barkley, ultimately resulting in the former being traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Flash forward back to the podcast appearance Pippen made when he was asked about his all-time starting five ... and he had words about his former Rockets teammate.

“I will take myself, Michael Jordan, Magic [Johnson], give me Charles Barkley. I’ll take Shaq," Pippen said before quickly changing his response. "No, no, no. You know what? Get rid of Barkley, give me Giannis [Antetokounmpo]. It's Giannis at the four, and then give me Shaq at the 5.”

The comment appears to be more of a compliment to Giannis Antetokounmpo, the reigning Finals MVP who is in pursuit for a second straight championship, than a dig at Barkley.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo

The fact that Barkley was included in his starting five to begin with shows that Pippen respects his former teammate's basketball abilities even if the two didn't get along. But it may have come across a bit shady to take back his original comment.

Was there rocky relationship in Houston the reason why Pippen changed his answer? We'll never truly know, but we can only assume that it has potential to be the reason.

Published May 4, 2022

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.