The apple does not fall to far from the tree.
Scotty Pippen Jr., the son of Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, has gotten out of his dad’s shadow and is creating his own path this season with the Memphis Grizzlies, and he certainly did the family name proud on Saturday night when he put up a career-high 30 points on the Chicago Bulls, the team with whom his father won six NBA championships. The fact that the game was played at The United Center, where the elder Pippen had so many memorable and iconic performances from 1987-1998, made it even more special.
Pippen, who is the early favorite for Most Improved Player, added 10 dimes and knocked down 13 of his 16 shots, including 3 of 6 from distance, as the shorthanded Grizzlies defeated the Bulls by 11, 142-131.
“It’s definitely a special place to play,” Pippen said of Chicago’s United Center. “[To] see my dad’s name up [in the rafters]. I’ve dreamed of this moment. It’s a dream come true to be finally able to play here.”
Pippen played in 21 games for the Grizzlies last season after being called up from the G League, where he was one of the best players for the South Bay Lakers but was not getting an opportunity with the big club. Pippen Jr. stated that he was looking over his options and considering going to play overseas before he finally got the news of a lifetime, that first NBA call up. His hard, patience and perseverance have certainly paid off.
“Opportunity is huge for a lot of us,” Pippen said on Saturday. “I’m just trying to take advantage of it.”
Embed from Getty ImagesHe is accomplishing a lot more than that. After Ja Morant went down against the Los Angeles Lakers with a hip injury, Pippen was put into the starting lineup two days later and then immediately took off the training wheels, recording the first triple-double of his career with 11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a win over the Washington Wizards. The Pippens are now the first father-son combination in the NBA play-by-play era to each have a triple-double on the books.
Since becoming a starter seven games ago, Pippen has been taking the league by storm, averaging over 13 points, five assists, four rebounds and a steal per game as the Grizzlies have won five of their last eight games keeping their heads above water with Morant out of action. Memphis is now 10-7 and above the Play-In line in the deep and highly contested Western Conference.
Pippen will go back to his reserve roll when Morant gets healthy and returns, but he has obviously carved out a place on this roster as a meaningful reserve whose numbers in lineups alongside Morant speak to the potential of that pairing. This guy can play. It might have taken him a couple of years after a great college career at Vanderbilt to get his shot, but now that he is in the NBA, like Seth Curry or Gary Payton II, he is going to stick around for a long time.
