Scottie Pippen vs Clyde Drexler

[RocketGreatness]

Who do you guys think was the better player, who had the better career?
I found this comparison on another site and it seemed pretty eye popping and interesting so I am bringing it here.

I have Drexler ranked 4th in terms of shooting guards and I also have Pippen ranked 4th for small forwards. Problem with this comparison is Pippen didn't play enough being the 1st option, Drexler played a good amount of time at the end of his career being the 2nd option during his Rocket years. He won a championship being a 2nd option player behind Hakeem Olajuwon and none being the 1st option. Pippen won 6 championships being the 2nd option player to Jordan but none being the 1st option.

[magnax1]

Its not even close, clyde and kobe would be a more realistically close comparison.

[NBASTATMAN]

Its not even close, clyde and kobe would be a more realistically close comparison.

In their primes Clyde was a good bit better.. But Pippen had the better career... As far as winning titles.... Kobe and the glide are better comparisons but kobe is better than the glide....

[magnax1]

In their primes Clyde was a good bit better.. But Pippen had the better career... As far as winning titles.... Kobe and the glide are better comparisons but kobe is better than the glide....

Actually in winning titles kobe and pippen would be close, clyde won one and kobe won 4 vs pippens 6. Clyde had some really amazing seasons and is probably the third or fourth best shooting guard ever. Pippen might be close to that level on small forwards, but its a less close position in terms of competition.

[NotYetGreat]

Pippen had the better career, but as a player who carries his team, I think Clyde was better.

[magnax1]

You see, pippen may be really good, but I get this feeling that nobody would remember him if he wasn't paired with jordan. He'd get ignored like wilkins, mullin, baylor and others. Those three were all better than pippen, but nobody really thinks much of them anymore because they weren't stuck to michael jordan most of there career. Clyde is alot better than Pippen.

[D.J.]

Pippen had the better career. Primes are close, though Clyde gets the edge. Clyde Drexler in his prime was roughly 27 PPG/8 RPG/6 APG/3 SPG and about 50 percent from the field. Pippen was not quite the scorer, but was about equal in terms of rebounding, playmaking, and defense. If you want a prime player, you would want Clyde. He was at least equal in non-scoring aspects and could score more.

[Duncan21formvp]

Drexler

[RocketGreatness]

Pippen had the better career. Primes are close, though Clyde gets the edge. Clyde Drexler in his prime was roughly 27 PPG/8 RPG/6 APG/3 SPG and about 50 percent from the field. Pippen was not quite the scorer, but was about equal in terms of rebounding, playmaking, and defense. If you want a prime player, you would want Clyde. He was at least equal in non-scoring aspects and could score more.

Well if you ask me, the question is kind of like Defense vs Offense, which do you value more. That's why Pippen is arguably the greatest 2nd option to ever play the game, His defense. Pippen was the ultimate defender and arguably the greatest perimeter defender to ever play the game of basketball. He was also the prototypical point-forward and re-visited that position.

Back to the topic, I think Drexler was easily the better scorer and rebounder. However, Pippen has the edge at passing and defense. Hard to tell who was the better shooter, They were both average at best shooters.

[D.J.]

Well if you ask me, the question is kind of like Defense vs Offense, which do you value more. That's why Pippen is arguably the greatest 2nd option to ever play the game, His defense. Pippen was the ultimate defender and arguably the greatest perimeter defender to ever play the game of basketball. He was also the prototypical point-forward and re-visited that position.

Back to the topic, I think Drexler was easily the better scorer and rebounder. However, Pippen has the edge at passing and defense. Hard to tell who was the better shooter, They were both average at best shooters.

Clyde played very good defense as well. His passing also was quite good for someone that did not play the point regularly. Clyde could do just about anything Pippen could, plus he was the better scorer.

[miles berg]

Clyde, easily.

[RocketGreatness]

Clyde played very good defense as well. His passing also was quite good for someone that did not play the point regularly. Clyde could do just about anything Pippen could, plus he was the better scorer.

Well In my opinion,

Clyde's scoring gap against Pippen was shorter than Pippen's defense gap against Drexler. In other words, Pippen's Defense>Clyde's scoring.

I think maybe Dr. J vs Clyde would've been a better debate looking at it.

[Chalkmaze]

You see, pippen may be really good, but I get this feeling that nobody would remember him if he wasn't paired with jordan. He'd get ignored like wilkins, mullin, baylor and others. Those three were all better than pippen, but nobody really thinks much of them anymore because they weren't stuck to michael jordan most of there career. Clyde is alot better than Pippen.

I think there's an awful lot of truth to this.

[bizil]

Gotta go with the Glide. Clyde is one of the top 4 or 5 SG's of all time. He proved he could be the number one option and carry teams to the NBA finals twice. He then linked with Dream as the 2nd option and got a ring. As far as an all around player Pip you could say is better than Clyde. But Clyde was a scoring machine and he was still good all around. Clyde had averaged 8ast in a season. If Clyde didnt' dribble with his head down I would say he could play 1-2-3 all day like Mike, Pip, Bron, and Kobe. But with that said I gotta go Clyde. Clyde along with MJ revolutionized the two guard spot in the league. It's now to where the top two guards have to be top notch athletes or close to it, get 6-8 dimes, and 6-8 boards, and be top notch or close to it defenders. That package wasn't really required for two guards in the past. I think Jerry West for his timeframe dominated the two like that. But Mike and Clyde were 6'6 and 6'7 with Dr. J type athletic ability. It's almost like they combined West's domination all around of that position with Dr. J's athletic ability.

[kshutts1]

You see, pippen may be really good, but I get this feeling that nobody would remember him if he wasn't paired with jordan. He'd get ignored like wilkins, mullin, baylor and others. Those three were all better than pippen, but nobody really thinks much of them anymore because they weren't stuck to michael jordan most of there career. Clyde is alot better than Pippen.

...and if Jordan wasn't paired with Pippen, he wouldn't be remembered. What's your point? I can't think of a single player that has single-handedly won a title. Not one, and this includes "His Airness" MJ. The closest anyone has come to winning a title being a one man show is probably Iverson, although I don't know enough about the NBA prior to the 80's, so maybe there was a bigger one man show back then.

My point is just that everyone (except Iverson? lol) needs help, and no one... NO ONE... would be remembered the same if you changed their role players. We must judge on what we know, not what we "believe".