In a candid and spirited conversation, NBA champion Craig Hodges didn’t hold back when reflecting on the greatness of his former teammate, Scottie Pippen — a player he believes remains unmatched in today’s game.
“Ooooooweee! Ain’t nobody playin’ like Pip, you know what I’m sayin’?” Hodges exclaimed with a laugh, before diving deep into what made Pippen one-of-a-kind. “The reason I say that is because Pip didn’t need the ball to get off, you know what I mean? He wasn’t dribbling, dribbling, dribbling around this thing, you know what I’m sayin’?”
While comparisons are often made in today’s NBA, Hodges sees only glimpses of Scottie in current stars. “You have Kawhi Leonard with similar traits at times; you have Paul George with those similar traits (at times); you have… not so much KD because Scottie could shoot 3’s, but Scottie was looking at what the defense gave him, you know what I mean?”
What separated Pippen, according to Hodges, was his instinct, versatility, and selflessness — all layered within a game rooted in fundamentals rather than analytics.
“It wasn’t an analytical situation in his mind. You had so many straight drives to the basket and then Scottie would shoot the pull-up 3’s… It’s a certain way that he played, and then on the other side of the ball, he could defend the most potent player on the other side of the ball.”
Hodges, who played alongside Pippen during the Bulls’ early 1990s ascent, recalls the unique evolution he witnessed in real time.
“He had a certain range in the game that I don’t see many players with, especially from a fundamental end. And I was able to be blessed to be able to see the development on a professional level. I don’t know how much time he put in before he got with us at Central Arkansas, high school or whatever — but when he got with us, it was a constant growth process.”
In a lighter moment, Hodges reminisced about Pippen and Horace Grant as the team’s joyful spirit — always cracking jokes but dead serious when it mattered.
“Horace and Scottie were two of the silliest, you feel me? Because they were fun-loving young cats and they kept the game in a proper perspective compared to my generation… We come to work and I can talk about them being silly and having fun on the bus and off the court, but I can say this about them two — every day they came to work, and when they learned something, they NEVER made the same mistake twice.”
That attention to detail, Hodges says, was a telltale mark of Scottie’s professionalism and greatness.
Still, despite his six championships and Hall of Fame résumé, Pippen is often remembered as Michael Jordan’s sidekick. Hodges challenges that narrative.
“For me, Scottie hasn’t been in the shadow of MJ and the whole aura of ‘Be Like Mike,’ you know? He got caught somewhere into being Robin and The Green Hornet!” he said, laughing.
“I tell people all the time MJ was MJ, but at the same time, I don’t think Scottie was any less than a player than Michael Jordan at any point in time. So when we talk that whole thing, I’ve done seen Scottie guard Michael in practice, okay? So I knew what potential was there. He guarded Magic, alright? So we knew what he was capable of doing on both sides of the basketball.”
And perhaps most important of all: “Nobody was more of an unselfish player than Scottie Pippen, man.”
In the era of load management, isolation-heavy basketball, and social media narratives, Craig Hodges’ words hit different — a reminder that true greatness isn’t always loud or spotlight-chasing. Sometimes, it’s just Pip doing Pip.
