Portland Trail Blazers: 30 greatest players in franchise history

• Played four seasons with Trail Blazers (1999-2003)
• Averaged 11.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and five assists per game

Scottie Pippen is known — and rightly so — for being Michael Jordan’s “sidekick” in Chicago for several years.

Of course, Pippen was much more than a sidekick. He was a seven-time All-Star for the Chicago Bulls and one of the best players in the league throughout that stretch, scoring more than 20 points per game four times in Chicago. Pippen was one of the league’s premier passers from the forward spot.

By the time he joined the Trail Blazers, Pippen was one year removed from his 12 seasons with the Bulls, having spent the 1998-99 campaign with the Houston Rockets, averaging 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. He was 34 years old, and would have been fair to wonder how much Pippen still had in the tank.

But all he did in Portland was help the Blazers win 59 games in his first year in Blazers black-and-red and help carry the squad to the Western Conference Finals. They were beaten in seven games by the Los Angeles Lakers squad that ultimately won three championships in a row.

Pippen spent three more years in Portland as a starter (when healthy) and was part of at least 49 wins in each of those seasons. He was a secondary playmaker and scorer behind young Rasheed Wallace, Bonzi Wells, and Damon Stoudamire. Pippen added an important edge and experience to the roster throughout his time as a Blazer.

He wound down his career with one final swan song in Chicago, playing 23 games for the Bulls in 2003-04 before retiring.