As a 10-time NBA All-Defensive team member, Scottie Pippen was without a doubt, one of the best lockdown defenders of all time. While that remains a fact, former Charlotte Hornets and New Jersey Nets star Kendall Gill claims that Pip had one notable weakness on his defensive game.
According to Gill, Pippen could definitely guard the best offensive player of just about any NBA team. However, Kendall realized over time that Scottie found it difficult to chase his matchups once they crossed him up to the left.
"Scottie had a tough time guarding the right-to-left crossover," Gill told Chicago-based journalist Jack M Silverstein in 2021. "He couldn’t for some reason. That was the only weakness defensively Scottie had."
Gill tried to exploit Pippen's lone weakness on the defense
Pippen was clearly a more decorated defender than Gill but that didn't mean that the latter had no right to criticize the Chicago Bulls forward's defense. Some might not know but Kendall was the 1998-99 season steals leader. At the same time, Gill was also a phenomenal scorer during his prime.
In 1998, Kendall and the Nets faced Pippen and the Bulls in the first round. Having studied Pip's weaknesses repeatedly, he was confident that, like Kobe Bryant, Grant Hill, and others, he could also beat Scottie by crossing him to the left.
Gill averaged a decent 14.3 points per game in that series but unfortunately for the Nets, the Bulls swept them en route to the second round.
"For some reason he just didn’t open up very well going that way. You go back and you look at Kobe cross him over — Grant Hill. Yes, Grant Hill used to do it. I did it a couple of times in the playoffs because I just studied him, and I’ll watch where his weakness was. But he didn’t have too many," Gill added.
Scottie was a better defender than MJ
Truth be told, it's still hard to tell if Gill was on point in his take on Pippen's defense. During the Bulls' dominant years, Jordan was often celebrated for his scoring prowess and competitive spirit but Pippen's defensive skills have garnered considerable acclaim.
Jordan may have one-upped Pip in terms of defensive accolades, as he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in 1988, but many still consider Scottie a better defender than MJ.
In fact, the great Julius Erving once said , "There are certain things that Pippen does for that team that Michael doesn't do. Definitely defensively."
In conclusion, Gill is entitled to share his thoughts on Pippen's defense but it's safe to say that doesn't mean Scottie's mastery on that side of the ball doesn't deserve recognition in its own right.
Related: "Frequently it was heated" — Steve Kerr claims Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen's conversations in practice usually had tension
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