SUMMARY
- Scottie Pippen is reportedly worth between $20 million to $50 million as of 2024.
- The former Chicago Bulls player earned around $109.9 million as a player.
After becoming the fifth overall pick in the 1987 NBA Draft, it wasn’t long before Scottie Pippen became a household name. He was probably one of the reasons why the Chicago Bulls were exceedingly successful during the 90s. He was simply just one of the best defenders in the league at the time, who had incredible capacity to lead as well. However, his contributions were often overlooked due to the presence of MJ on the Bulls roster.
Pippen’s career lasted through 17 seasons and he played for three teams in total. Besides the Bulls, he played for the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers. Pippen managed to rack up an insane resume filled with accolades. He’s a 6x NBA Champion, 7x NBA All-Star, 8x NBA All-Defensive player for eight years straight, NBA Steals Leader, and a Team USA Basketball gold medalist as well.
Scottie Pippen was certainly extremely talented and his presence on the Bulls had a lot of influence amongst fans as well. The Bulls trio, including Pippen, Jordan, and Dennis Rodman were the faces of the league. As a result, they were sponsored and endorsed by many companies. Pippen partnered with Coca-Cola, McDonald’s as well as Nike. Overall, with his NBA earnings and sponsorship deals, Pippen has managed to maintain a net worth between $20 million to $50 million.
Scottie Pippen earned $109.9 million as an NBA player
NBA salaries and contracts were fairly smaller when compared to the deals that are being handed out today. The entry-level contract Pippen was offered was worth only $2.8 million over four years. His average salary was $707,500 per season. The next contract he signed with the Bulls was possibly one of the worst deals in the history of the league.
Pippen once wrote in his book that people frowned on him for accepting a seven-year deal worth $19.4 million. At that time, other stars like him were earning much higher than him. His average salary was around $2.7 million per season. In 1997, the Bulls had reached a boiling point, and multiple relationships with torn apart.
In honor of good and bad contract talk, I present you with possibly the most undervalued contract in the history of sports. The HOF 7x All-Star Scottie Pippen’s contract with the Bulls. pic.twitter.com/VBHRB5dZeU
— 👑 Dae 👑 (@Daeholee_Grail) February 18, 2021
This was when Pippen was offered a five-year $77 million deal. He was already a five-time NBA Champion going on his sixth. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, he was traded to the Rockets and then the Blazers. In 2003, he returned to the Bulls under a two-year $10.3 million deal. He retired in 2004, eventually capping at $109.9 million in career earnings.
Scottie Pippen’s net worth plummeted due to his divorce from Larsa Pippen
As we all know, despite being married for several years, Scottie Pippen’s marriage to Larsa Pippen did not end well. As Larsa explained on various occasions, the couple faced irreconcilable differences, which tore them apart. They initially filed for divorce in 2016 but decided to work things out. However, they realized that they could not rejuvenate the spark and officially split in 2021.
BREAKING: Larsa Pippen has reportedly been awarded some of her ex-husband Scottie Pippen’s Chicago Bulls retirement fund.
Larsa has been recognized as an “alternate payee” of Scottie’s Chicago Bulls 401k Savings Plan Trust, RadarOnline reports. pic.twitter.com/zekSOKMZIr
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) June 21, 2023
It is unclear whether Pippen signed a prenuptial agreement, which is why the court ordered him to pay Larsa a large chunk of his bank balance. Scottie was asked to pay 50% of his 401K Savings Plan Trust accrued from the time of their union until the date of divorce. This is why Scottie’s net worth isn’t in the hundred millions at the moment.
There were additional reasons why Pippen’s net worth plummeted. Several sources have revealed that he made numerous poor financial decisions. Pippen once bought a faulty aircraft in 2002, which cost around $4.3 million. The former NBA player also hired a terrible financial advisor who was eventually imprisoned for three years due to bank fraud. Pippen owed money to his ex-partners in the form of child support as well.
Scottie Pippen famously played on one of the worst contracts in NBA history, but his financial missteps extended way beyond the basketball court.
But none quite as crazy as the time he dropped over $4M on a private jet that couldn’t fly: pic.twitter.com/CTmPRbxWoJ
— Kicks (@kicks) November 29, 2022
The word around the street is that Scottie Pippen accumulated an estimated $27 million in loss due to poor investments, according to CNBC. However, he managed to make a little money via a farm that he purchased. The government paid him a total of $80,000, however, his farm was burglarized once. He lost around $50,000 in farm equipment alone. There were once rumors of Pippen filing for bankruptcy. However, TMZ confirmed that he never made the move.