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Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Being drafted 8th overall in 1987 and immediately traded for Scottie Pippen is one of the most famous draft-night deals in NBA history. Looking back, how did that trade shape the trajectory of your early career in Seattle and how do you view that moment decades later? Olden Polynice: You know, it’s funny because that trade happened the night before. But low and behold, the NBA doesn’t announce trades until after the draft has begun. So technically, for all intents and purposes, Scottie Pippen and I were traded for each other. But the trade happened the night before, so if they had done it the right way, there never would have been that connection. Chicago would have picked fifth, Seattle would have picked eighth and that would have been it. With that being said, I didn’t work out for a lot of teams and I damn sure didn’t work out for Chicago. So I knew I was going to Seattle; we had an agreement like, “That’s where I’m going.” So when the fifth pick was about to be announced and David Stern was standing there, he goes, “With the fifth selection, the Seattle SuperSonics select…” I literally get goosebumps, Scoop! I’m like, “Oh, he’s about to say my name.” And then he says Scott Pippen! I’m like, “Who the hell is Scott Pippen?” Nobody knew who Scott Pippen was, so I’m a little upset.
Then I get drafted by the Bulls and now I’m all excited saying, “Oh man, I’m about to play with Michael Jordan!” And then they announce the trade. So that was it. I got my first taste of NBA trades and life and I realized in that moment: hey, this is the business you’re in. Once everything settled and I got to Seattle, I had a business decision to make. It came early: do I come in here coming out as a junior—after playing a year in Europe—saying that I’m going to be the man, or that I’m going to average 20? Mind you, they had Dale Ellis, Tom Chambers, and Xavier McDaniel—three 20-point scorers coming off that season! I went, “If I want to play, I better make a decision here. I need to figure out what to do to get on the floor.” And that was to play defense, rebound, score when I can when I get an opportunity to get the ball and that was it. That was my thing. It’s so funny because early on in my career—and pretty much throughout my career—I didn’t get a lot of assists because I’m like, “I’m not passing the ball back out!” That’s the last thing I’m doing once I get the ball because I don’t get it anyway! So I’m going to score or put it up whenever I can. I shot over 50%, and my offensive rebounding was the key because I’m like, “Hey, all these guys are going to shoot, and they’re not all great shooters. So I’m going to do what I do best: go get that damn offensive rebound and put it back.”
Draymond Green: "You remember the day and age where Michael Jordan was celebrated, not ridiculed like LeBron James. The coverage of basketball as a whole was completely different. I grew up in that era, and now, being one of the players, and seeing that that's not a thing at all, nowadays, we want to talk about, I can't remember a single time where someone said, 'Man, Scottie Pippen need to win this game or his legacy is tarnished.'"
Kwame Brown: "Stackhouse one day told (Michael Jordan), I didn't come here to be your Scottie Pippen. He thought that he was going to be the number one option and then MJ would be backing him up, but he found out very quickly that that wasn't the case and MJ was the number one option and Stack had to get in where he fit in."
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“I don't know, a lot of these guys are, they're just some players that that's going to fill in again,” said Gary Payton in a one-on-one interview about the Lakers. “Same thing with the Chicago Bulls (back in the 90s), you're building around Luka, that's what you're building around. Reaves is going to be your Scottie Pippen, so it's just like with us, with Seattle, it's me and Sean Kemp, it's Luka and Reeves. They're building around their guys, and they're trying to put people around these dudes that is going to do their job, get a rebound, make a big-time shot, and then let these guys be Batman and Robin.”
The sports world wasn’t about to miss the party either. Los Angeles Rams stars Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua made the trip to support the Americans, while Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto and Dodgers pitchers Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow swapped the baseball diamond for the world’s biggest soccer stage. Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, NBA champion Dwyane Wade and actress Gabrielle Union were also among those soaking in the World Cup atmosphere.
Tracy: "The Chicago Bulls were trying to make a trade. If anyone watched ‘The Last Dance,’ they were talking about trading Scottie Pippen around that time in 1997. I was going to be a part of that deal. They called me the night before the draft. I had to go to the clinic, take a physical, and it was about to go down the next night. Jerry Reinsdorf and Michael Jordan axed that deal, and the trade didn't go through…Sitting in the green room as an 18-year-old and there's a possibility I might be playing with the greatest player in the world.”
Scottie Pippen: Sad to hear about the passing of Stacey King. A champion, a great teammate, and a true ambassador for the game. His impact on the Bulls organization and the city of Chicago will be remembered for generations. Rest in peace, King.
HoopsHype: Just another playoff record ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Just another playoff record ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
— HoopsHype (@hoopshypeofficial.bsky.social) 2026-06-03T22:45:49.957Z
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Larsa Pippen's son Preston got emotional as he opened up about his mom's alleged affair. During the fourth and sixth episodes of Netflix's Calabasas Confidential, the 23-year-old son of Larsa and her ex-husband Scottie Pippen spoke about his mom while with his friends. Preston mentioned that his mom was in a "weird place" and had a "new relationship per usual." "I'm glad I'm not dealing with it all so [up] close," said Preston. "It kind of sucks when your parents are divorced. That's one thing, and then once they start dating, it's another thing. If they get remarried, then it's a bigger thing."
As he continued, Preston got emotional and said his parents don't speak with each other. "My parents got divorced when I was 15, and it was really tough because there was an affair," Preston said, referring to his mom Larsa's alleged affair with Future before officially separating from Scottie. "Kids at school, like my friends, would play music by a rapper that my mom was taking to at the time, and it was just s----y," he continued. "I am removed from it now, so it's easy to kind of talk about."
Kenny Smith: "I don't think I've ever said this, for my first six years I was always jealous of Scottie Pippen. I was so jealous because I was the sixth pick, he was the fifth. I visited Chicago. They brought me in on an interview. I was so jealous because I was like, I knew what he could do and bring out of you. You always have it in you, but you sometimes you need somebody to elevate it to another level. And I knew that he would do that. So I used to look at Scottie and be so jealous of that.
Austin Rivers: But if you want to talk about contributing players on championship runs, Hall of Fame help, when we talk about the Dennis Rodmans, Draymond Green's in that conversation. He is absolutely in that conversation and he has earned his right. But you don't ever see Dennis Rodman on a podcast talking about, ‘man, I should have shot the ball more. I don't know why they drew a place for Scottie Pippen. I don't get it. Phil Jackson hindered my career.’ Never. Never.