Pippen Makes More Than One Statement

MINNEAPOLIS —  Scottie Pippen started with a fashion statement.

Bright red shoes.

Very bright red shoes.

“They’re ugly, man,” said George Karl, coach of the Seattle SuperSonics and the Western Conference All-Stars.

“Loud,” Chicago Bull and Eastern teammate Horace Grant added.

Once the peers cringed and the crowd reached for sunglasses, the game began. Then Pippen made another statement.

Good player.

Very good player.

On Sunday at the Target Center, he was the best, contributing 29 points, five three-pointers, 11 rebounds and four steals to the East’s 127-118 victory in the NBA’s 44th All-Star game. He won the MVP award, a trophy and, in front of a worldwide television audience, the right to step out from Michael Jordan’s solar eclipse of a shadow, and not necessarily in that order.

Said Grant: “I think Scottie had something to prove. He proved he belonged up there with the elite. Not just the all-stars, but the superstars.”

Which makes what transpired about as close to a coming out as you can get for someone who has played for three championship teams, the Dream Team, has twice been selected to the all-defensive team in a vote by coaches and was playing in his fourth All-Star game. That it came as the Bulls are two games away from the best record in the league after the greatest player in the game, maybe league history, retires only makes it better.

Pippen always has been known, at least since being drafted in the first round out of Central Arkansas in 1987. It’s just that being known as Jordan’s supporting star in the three-peat or The Guy With The Headaches isn’t exactly ideal recognition.

So he sprung this showing on the non-believers.

“It wasn’t a statement, I think it was past-due judgment,” Pippen said. “Having Michael on our team really overshadowed guys like Horace and B.J. (Armstrong) and, to some extent, myself. It’s time we were all recognized as all-stars.”

Pippen, of course, was easy to recognize. He couldn’t be missed, not with those red shoes (plus black trim and a white logo) and recent boot-camp haircut. And he couldn’t miss.

Two free throws early in the game. Slam dunk. Three-pointer from the top of the key. Two possessions later, three-pointer from the left corner. This was as the Bulls--starters Pippen and Armstrong--had all the points in a 15-12 lead for the East and before a third, reserve-for-a-day Grant, had even checked in.

By the end of the first quarter, Pippen had 12 points. By intermission, 16 points and six rebounds in 14 minutes. Eleven more points in the third period clinched the award, even as Patrick Ewing got 12 of his 20 points off the bench in the final 12 minutes to hold off a charge by the West.

“I’ve been shooting the ball well, and I just continued to let the shot flow,” said Pippen, who is 10th in the league in scoring at 21.7 points a game while also averaging 8.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.81 steals and shooting 50.8%. “It (being MVP) wasn’t anything I thought about before the game. I think the fans come here to be entertained, and that’s all I tried to do.

“I didn’t feel I had anything to prove. I think just being selected as an All-Star and as a starter shows recognition.”

But it still remains a moment to cherish in a season full of those, a time when the Bulls have spent the first half handing out almost as many told-you-so’s as losses. The uprising of the supporting cast, as Jordan indelicately tabbed them, carried all the way into the All-Star game, where Pippen went for 29 points and the MVP, Armstrong had 11 and Grant grabbed eight rebounds in 17 minutes, six on offense.