Fans and analysts were relieved for Michael Jordan when the Chicago Bulls captured the 1991 NBA Championship, the first in his career. The victory signified Jordan's transition from a talented star to a true winner. Jordan's stock reached an all-time high in the summer of 1991.
When the Bulls won their second consecutive title in 1992, the "Black Cat" was still considered the greatest player alive, but a handful of analysts were starting to look at the help Mike was receiving on his way to championship glory. After all, winning back-to-back chips is very rare, and MJ, for all his greatness, could never do it alone.
Their eyes turned to University of Central Arkansas alum Scottie Pippen , the forward who, in Game 6 of the 1992 NBA Finals, led the second unit on a 14-2 run before Jordan and the starters returned to seal the deal against the Portland Trail Blazers .
Pippen continued his hot streak in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He played so great on the 1992 Dream Team that he was finally starting to get the recognition he deserved.
MJ admitted to Bulls head coach Phil Jackson after the games that Scottie was turning heads in Barcelona with his great play. The "Zen Master" agreed, noting that, after the 1992 Championship and the Olympics, Pip became a star in his own right.
"Michael came back from the Olympics and he told me Scottie was the second-best player on that team," said Jackson, via nba.com
It wasn't just Michael who made this great discovery. Fans, too, began to notice how important Pip's defense and intelligence were in the Bulls and Team USA's success.
"People knew he was a pretty good sidekick to Michael, but all of a sudden, they were starting to recognize that he was a legitimate star in his own right who had really developed over the prior three to four years. He wasn't just an active, defensive small forward anymore. He was a player who could excel at three, if not four, positions. He was a real force on our team in that regard and Michael recognized that," Jackson believed.
To the untrained eye, Pippen's height, length, and quickness enabled him to match up against anyone on the floor. It was these traits that separated him from an ordinary small forward.
But for Jackson, one of the greatest coaches ever, who could see beyond the physical, Pippen was more than just a special athlete. He also possessed a sound basketball mind and was an expert communicator. When he wasn't locking people down, he was telling his teammates how to defend.
"His greatest strength was his knowledge of how things worked on the defensive end of the floor," he said.
"Scottie was the voice of our team — figuratively and literally, as he did a lot of the talking and kept our team on the same page. When he wasn't at the top of the key harassing a guard as a special assignment, he was on the backside of our defense talking his teammates through different situations, whether it was a double team, trap or some other important aspect. Because of that, he was very vital to the run that we made," Jackson concluded.
