page_title: Scottie Pippen
section_title: The Bulls' second three-peat (1996–1998)
hierarchical_section_title: Scottie Pippen / NBA career / The Bulls' second three-peat (1996–1998)
context_page_description: Scotty Maurice Pippen, usually spelled Scottie Pippen, is an American former professional basketball player. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association, winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, played an important role in transforming the Bulls into a championship team and in popularizing the NBA around the world during the 1990s.
  Considered one of the greatest small forwards of all time, Pippen was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team eight consecutive times and the All-NBA First Team three times. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star and was the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History during the 1996–97 season, and is one of four players to have his jersey retired by the Chicago Bulls. He played a main role on both the 1992 Chicago Bulls Championship team and the 1996 Chicago Bulls Championship team, which were selected as two of the Top 10 Teams in NBA History.
context_section_description: With the return of Michael Jordan and the addition of multiple NBA rebound leader Dennis Rodman, the Bulls posted the best regular-season record in NBA history at the time (72–10) in 1995–96 en route to winning their fourth title against the Seattle SuperSonics. Later that year, Pippen became the first person to win an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year twice, playing for Team USA at the Atlanta Olympics.
  The Bulls opened 1996–97 NBA season with a 17–1 record and had a league-best record of 42–6 when entering the All-Star break. Both Pippen and Jordan were selected among the NBA's 50 Greatest Players as part of the league celebrating its 50th season. The ceremony was held at half-time of the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, which took place on February 9, 1997. Phil Jackson, the Bulls' head coach, was honored as one of the 10 greatest coaches in NBA history, while the 1992 Chicago Bulls Championship team and the 1996 Chicago Bulls Championship team, on which Pippen had played a key role, were selected as two of the Top 10 Teams in NBA History. In the All-Star game itself, Pippen was 4–9 from the field, finishing with 8 points as well as 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 25 minutes of play. The East defeat the West 132–120 and Glen Rice was crowned the All-Star Game MVP. 
  Pippen scored a career high of 47 points in a 134–123 win over the Denver Nuggets on February 18, going 19–27 from the field and adding 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals in 41 minutes of play. On February 23 Pippen was voted "Player of The Week" for the week of February 17, his 5th and final time to receive that honor. As the league entered its final weeks the Bulls lost several of their key players, including Bill Wennington (ruptured tendon in his foot), Dennis Rodman (injured knee), and Toni Kukoč (inflamed sole on his foot). Pippen and Jordan were forced to shoulder a greater load while keeping the team headed towards a playoff appearance. Even with this challenge Chicago finished a league-best 69–13 record. In the final game of the regular season, Pippen missed a game-winning 3-pointer, leaving the Bulls just short of having an NBA record-setting back-to-back 70-win seasons. For his efforts in the 1996–97 NBA season, Pippen earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors for the 7th consecutive time as well as All-NBA Second Team honors.
  Despite injuring his foot in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, Pippen helped the Bulls to an 84–82 victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. One of the highlights of the game was when Jazz star Karl Malone was fouled by Dennis Rodman with 9.2 seconds left and had a chance to give Utah the lead and Pippen famously psyched Malone out, before he stepped up to the line, by saying: "Just remember, the mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays." He missed both free throws. Jordan got the rebound and quickly called a time-out with 7.5 seconds left. With play resumed, Jordan dribbled out most of the clock, then launched a 20-foot (6 m) shot that went in at the buzzer to give Chicago a 1–0 series lead. In Game 3 of the series, Pippen tied a then finals record of seven 3-pointers, but Chicago still lost 104–93. In Game 5 Jordan was battling illness but still managed to dominate the game, with the Bulls winning 90–88. With only seconds remaining and the outcome safely in Chicago's favor, Jordan collapsed into Pippen's arms, creating an iconic image of the pair that has come to symbolize "The Flu Game". During Game 6, Pippen made one of the greatest plays of his career. Trailing by two, after Steve Kerr's jump shot with 5 seconds remaining, the Jazz looked for a final shot to stay alive, but Pippen knocked away Bryon Russell's inbound pass intended for Shandon Anderson and rolled the ball over to Toni Kukoč, who dunked to give the Bulls a 90–86 lead, clinching their fifth championship. Afterwards, Jordan was named Finals MVP for the fifth time.
  The 1997–98 season began amid speculation that it would be the last in Chicago for Pippen, Jordan, and Jackson. Pippen had purposefully delayed off-seas
caption: Chicago Bulls Championship banners hang in the rafters of the United Center
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