Who would have been an equivalent backcourt sidekick to Pippen in the 90s

[AussieSteve]

During the bulls first 3peat, which guards would have been roughly equivalent help for one of the ATG front court players of the time (Barkley, Hakeem, Robinson, Malone, Ewing) as Pippen was for Jordan?

Here are some options...

Drexler
Stockton
KJ
Dumars
Price
Tim Hardaway
Reggie
Richmond
Isiah

Others?

[Overdrive]

Out of these? Stockton. Maybe Dumars for a tiny stretch.

Drexler was better than Pippen. Drexler was a legit first option who might've won if he didn't run into the great Pistons and MJ. He also was a serviceable Pippento Hakeem when he was traded and started to decline already.

KJ and Price were nice, but definately didn't have Pippen's impact, but in terms of Barkley and KJ that '93 Suns team was well built. They make it to the finals in '94 or '95 they most likely win.

Hardaway, you mean Tim, right? Penny was definately good enough to be a Pippen for Shaq.

[AussieSteve]

Out of these? Stockton. Maybe Dumars for a tiny stretch.

Drexler was better than Pippen. Drexler was a legit first option who might've won if he didn't run into the great Pistons and MJ. He also was a serviceable Pippento Hakeem when he was traded and started to decline already.

KJ and Price were nice, but definately didn't have Pippen's impact, but in terms of Barkley and KJ that '93 Suns team was well built. They make it to the finals in '94 or '95 they most likely win.

Hardaway, you mean Tim, right? Penny was definately good enough to be a Pippen for Shaq.

Yep, referring to Tim.

I also forgot to add Thomas who was an AS till 93

[SpaceJam2]

He's like a Kawhi with slightly less scoring, as your #2.
Yikes.

But for 80s ad 90s player none could play perimeter D like Scottie could.

[Smoke117]

Out of these? Stockton. Maybe Dumars for a tiny stretch.

Drexler was better than Pippen. Drexler was a legit first option who might've won if he didn't run into the great Pistons and MJ. He also was a serviceable Pippento Hakeem when he was traded and started to decline already.

KJ and Price were nice, but definately didn't have Pippen's impact, but in terms of Barkley and KJ that '93 Suns team was well built. They make it to the finals in '94 or '95 they most likely win.

Hardaway, you mean Tim, right? Penny was definately good enough to be a Pippen for Shaq.

Disagree with this. Scottie was a higher impact player throughout their careers. I've said multiple times that the two best players in that 92 finals were Jordan and Pippen. Drexler was only scoring 4 more points while being inferior in every other regard. (vastly so defensively) There's also the fact that Drexler spent a majority of his career on the run and gun up tempo Blazers which would have been the perfect kind of offense for someone like Pippen. His best attribute was always the open court (which he is top 5 ever), but the triangle offense was always a slow paced half court style offense. You want to say Scottie wasn't some stellar half court offensive player that's fine, but Drexler wasn't either. His scoring numbers would look just like Pippen's if you replaced him on the Bulls while not being even half the defensive player.

[TheMan]

Steve smitty Smith would have been a great complement to MJ had there been no Scottie. Dude was smooth, had the length to be a SF, could dribble and was a decent passer, smooth finisher too, excellent 3 pt shooter. Obviously wasn't the defender Pippen was but he held his own on the defensive side, and what he lacked as a defender, he could make it up on the offensive side of the ball since he was better at creating his own shot than Pip.

He came on the scene later in MJ's career but flip SS for Pip in '87 (for argument's sake) and the Bulls would've been just as formidable, plus I believe he would've become a better defender just practicing with MJ...

[Smoke117]

Steve smitty Smith would have been a great complement to MJ had there been no Scottie. Dude was smooth, had the length to be a SF, could dribble and was a decent passer, smooth finisher too. Obviously wasn't the defender Pippen was but he held his own on the defensive side, and what he lacked as a defender, he could make it up on the offensive side of the ball since he was better at creating his own shot than Pip.

He came on the scene later in MJ's career but flip SS for Pip in '87 (for argument's sake) and the Bulls would've been just as formidable, plus I believe he would've become a better defender just practicing with MJ...

Steve Smith? LOL. Steve Smith is a complete scrub compared to Pippen. He at no point ever in his career had anything close to an impact of even a 1991 Pippen. The irony of going on about his scoring is also hilarious when Scottie has 4 seasons scoring more points than Smith ever did. He also wasn't "holding his own on the defensive side". Smith was absolute crap throughout his career defensively. Scottie Pippen was a legitimate superstar in his prime. Steve Smith was at best a borderline all star.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Richmond because of his defense and scoring (that would make MJ more of a playmaker but they'd figure it out imo).

Grant Hill circa 95-98.

I like the Steve Smith mention, but he wasn't much of an impact player. He and Reggie did have some great duels in the 90s.

[TheCorporation]

[3ball]

Kyrie, Wade, Middleton in this era, and many more

Stockton, Drexler, Penny, Payton in the 90's

And a ton more guys

On offense, 15-20% of the league was better than pippen.. pippen wasn't a great offensive player or a "lethal" scorer like kyrie or wade - he virtually NEVER commanded a double


Vin Baker, Derrick Coleman in the frontcourt were equal or better than pippen... And many more

Any of these guys would win rings next to mj and be recognized as all-nba and HOF as a result

[And1AllDay]

Kyrie, Wade, Middleton in this era, and many more

Stockton, Drexler, Penny, Payton in the 90's

And a ton more guys

On offense, 15-20% of the league was better than pippen.. pippen wasn't a great offensive player or a "lethal" scorer like kyrie or wade - he virtually NEVER commanded a double


Vin Baker, Derrick Coleman in the frontcourt were equal or better than pippen... And many more

Any of these guys would win rings next to mj and be recognized as all-nba and HOF as a result

Defense bruh

[3ball]

Defense bruh

An overrated aspect of the game for non-centers

Kyrie was on the #1 defense in the league last year

It's more about system and leadership/example and coaching/accountability than 1 perimeter player

[Smoke117]

An overrated aspect of the game for non-centers

Kyrie was on the #1 defense in the league last year

It's more about system and leadership/example and coaching/accountability than 1 perimeter player

Yeah, except that Pippen was a huge part of why the bulls were so great defensively in the first place. Few if any perimeter players have ever had his kind of impact defensively. He was regularly the best defensive player on the court for both teams. But look who I am responding to...of course you are trying to lower the impact Scottie had defensively. It helps put Jordan higher up on that pedestal in your obsessed and mentally ill mind. This is especially amusing considering the Bulls were #2 in defense in 95 almost solely based on how dominant Pippen was...a perimeter player.

[3ball]

Yeah, except that Pippen was a huge part of why the bulls were so great defensively in the first place. Few if any perimeter players have ever had his kind of impact defensively. He was regularly the best defensive player on the court for both teams. But look who I am responding to...of course you are trying to lower the impact Scottie had defensively. It helps put Jordan higher up on that pedestal in your obsessed and mentally ill mind. This is especially amusing considering the Bulls were #2 in defense in 95 almost solely based on how dominant Pippen was...a perimeter player.

MJ was the best defender in many series like the 96' ECF, 96' Finals, 92' Finals, and many more

You say pippen helped MJ on defense, but MJ still had to be a goat defender - whereas lebron is frequently bad on D and therefore needs more defensive help... ... it's illogical to say that the better defender (MJ) needed more help than the worse defender (lebron)

In addition to NOT preventing mj from needing to be a goat defender, pippen also made MJ be the goat scorer...

Again, hakeem could probably have prevented MJ from needing to be a goat defender, but not pippen.. for those bulls to be goat, MJ had to be a goat defender
.

[Smoke117]

MJ was the best defender in many series like the 96' ECF, 96' Finals, 92' Finals, and many more

You say pippen helped MJ on defense, but MJ still had to be a goat defender - whereas lebron is frequently bad on D and therefore needs more defensive help... ... it's illogical to say that the better defender (MJ) needed more help than the worse defender (lebron)

In addition to NOT preventing mj from needing to be a goat defender, pippen also made MJ be the goat scorer...

Again, hakeem could probably have prevented MJ from needing to be a goat defender, but not pippen.. for those bulls to be goat, MJ had to be a goat defender
.

This is why it's impossible to take you seriously. You actually believe this nonsense. Jordan a better defender than Pippen...lmfao. 96 finals Jordan was a better defender? That's why Scottie had a a team low 103drating to Jordan's 107? Okay. A 102 drating to Jordans 104 in the 92 finals? 102 drating to Jordans 106drating in the 92 ecf? You're just a joke. This why I so rarely bother to respond to you. You can't reason with someone so mentally defunct. Pippen was regularly the best defensive player for the Bulls throughout the playoffs series throughout their runs. That's just a fact. Sorry, bud.