The six-time champion is hard to become the boss. Jordan s core helper leads the team alone and continues to play bottlenecks.

Scotty Pippen, a name that cannot be avoided in NBA history. His evaluation always revolves around a core - "the strongest second in charge in history". He has top talent, but exposed his shortcomings when leading the team; he won the championship with Jordan for six times, but he was unable to continue his glory after leaving the "Flying Man". His career is a classic sample of the identity switching between "supporting role" and "protagonist" and a profound discussion on "talent and positioning".

In the 1987 draft, Pippen entered the NBA with the fifth pick in the first round. At that time, he was 2 meters tall, 03 meters tall, 2 meters 21 meters, and weighed 103 kg at his peak. He was one of the few players who could finish the free throw line and dunk. His dynamic talent was the "T0 level" in the small forward position. Originating from a famous basketball school + not as tall as the center may be the reason why he has not become the top scorer, but this talent lays the groundwork for the role of "Second Leader".

His skills are comprehensive enough to adapt to any system: he can break through layups, back-to-one singles, and long shots from the outside, and has a better pass vision than most No. 3 positions (5.2 assists per game in his career), and is the "adhesive" of triangular offense; the honor of 8 defenses and 1 defense of 2 defenses proves his ability to cover multiple positions with long arms and speed, and the success rate of single defenses of opponents is top-notch.

Non-stick ball, compatible, and integrated offense and defense. This characteristic makes him the "second leader who the team boss dreams of" - he neither seizes the ball nor provides stable output at critical moments, perfectly adapting to a "scoring machine" like Jordan.

Pippen was Jordan's most reliable "right-hand man" during the Bulls' 11 seasons. He played in the Finals six times with the team. He averaged 19 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and shot 42.5% from the field, supporting the team's offense and defense with comprehensive performance. In the 1991 Finals, he played against "Magic" Johnson, averaging 20.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 7.7 assists, helping the Bulls win the championship for the first time. In the 1996 Finals, he locked the opponent's core Payton on the defensive end, while averaging 15.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, helping the Bulls finish the 72-win season perfectly.

His existence allows Jordan to avoid excessive consumption on both sides of the offense and defense - there is a stable second scoring point on the offense, and an "iron gate" that can share the pressure of the top wing on the defensive end. As the fans said: "Jordan is the Bulls' spear, and Pippen is the strongest 'shield'."

Jordan retired for the first time in 1993, and Pippen ushered in the opportunity to lead the team alone. In the 1993-94 season, he averaged 22 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists per game, leading the Bulls to the playoffs as third in the Eastern Conference, and was selected as the Double First Team, All-Star MVP, and ranked third in the MVP (second only to Olajuwon and David Robinson), and seemed to have delivered a qualified answer.

But the series exposed fatal shortcomings: the Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Knicks, the Bulls lost 2-4. In the key battle, Pippen was arranged by Zen master to perform the final victory by Kukochi in the last attack due to his lack of ability to attack and lack of a "big heart". His ability to digest the ball was limited, and the more he reached the critical moment, the worse he was, and he could not bear the ending task of "boss".

In 1999, 35-year-old Pippen joined the Rockets and formed the "big three" with Barkley and Olajuwon, but became a career trough: he averaged 14.5 points per game in the regular season (except the lowest season in the rookie season), and shot 43.2% from the field (a career low); he scored 37 points in just one game against the Lakers, and scored less than 20 points in the other three games, and even scored only 3 points in 37 minutes. Barkley complained after the game: "I only realized how strong Jordan is after playing with him."

In 2000, he switched to the Trail Blazers, and Pippen entered the Western Conference Finals with the team but lost to the Lakers. At that time, the Trail Blazers had a luxurious lineup (Sabonis, Rashid Wallace, etc.), but he still could not break through the bottleneck as a "core". These experiences confirm the fact that Pippen's talent and character are more suitable to be the second leader who "adds icing on the cake" than the boss who "has the final result".

Looking at Pippen's career: As the second in command, he won 6 championships, 8 defenses, and 7 All-Stars, which is an indispensable cornerstone of the Jordan dynasty. The title of "the strongest second in command in history" is well deserved; as the boss, he led the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, and the lack of offensive ability and key ball attributes makes it difficult for him to join the ranks of "top super giants".

He is like "The First 3D of History" Klay Thompson - it is not that he cannot be the core, but that he can only release his maximum value when he is a supporting role. As the fans said: "Not everyone can become Jordan, there are always people who want to be Pippen." Being able to achieve the ultimate "second leader" is a legend in itself.