Scottie Pippen has been making the news recently for various reasons about his family, his ex-wife, his old teammates, and a plethora of things he has said in the past and present. Focusing on his family, we now know that the retired Chicago Bulls legend has 7 children with different baby mothers.
Those being, Antron, Scotty Jr., Justin, Preston, Sierra, Taylor, and Tyler Roby Pippen. Scottie has had kids with his ex-wives Larsa Pippen and Karen McCollum, ex-fiancee Yvette DeLeone, and ex-girlfriend Sonya Roby. Out of all his children, 2 stand out for unique reasons. The first was Antron Pippen who unfortunately passed away in 2021 due to unknown reasons not shared by the family.
The second, however, is Scotty Pippen Jr. who is special among his brothers and sisters for the simple fact that he is the only one who has followed in his father’s legendary footsteps and become a professional basketball player.
Scotty Pippen Jr plays for the South Bay Lakers
Scotty Jr. at first glance doesn’t exactly have the chops of his father. A 6’1 guard as compared to his father’s 6’8 small-forward role, their similarities end at the name and even that contrasts by an ‘ie’. Pippen Jr. went undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft but worked his way up to earning a 2-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. Whether that was due to his skillset or simply his lineage we cannot be certain but Pippen Jr. has made the most of his opportunity.
Scotty comes from Vanderbilt University where he played 3 years of college basketball. This made him almost 22 years old already when entering the 2022 NBA Draft and could be one of the major reasons GMs of the league turned their nose up at him.
He had a successful scoring career at Vanderbilt where he averaged 17.5 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.1 rebounds over three years. Pippen Jr. was named to the SEC All-Freshman team in 2020 and received in First-Team All-SEC honors in 2021 and 2022.
Coming into the draft, Pippen Jr. was a big name on the boards but that was only due to the surname he carried. The general opinion was he was an undersized point guard in a league filled with 6’5 ball handlers and lacked the athleticism and finishing needed to be effective at his size. He also wasn’t a Chris Paul prototype player as playmaking was more of a secondary skillset as compared to his scoring.
Scotty however refused to give up on his NBA dream and on July 1st of 2022, he received a shot at redemption. Pippen signed a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers splitting time with their G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.
Scotty Pippen Jr to play on the Lakers’ Summer League squad despite not having a two-way contract:https://t.co/fqpIX32PLv pic.twitter.com/xIrakL0rFe
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) July 1, 2023
Pippen also joined the Lakers’ 2022 NBA Summer League roster. In his Summer League debut, Pippen scored fourteen points, six rebounds, three assists, and a block in a 100–66 win over the Miami Heat. He was named to the G League’s inaugural Next Up Game for the 2022–23 season.
In 2023, Pippen Jr. still has yet to receive a call-up to the NBA but has once again been named to the Los Angeles Lakers Summer League team. Who knows if he performs well, the Lakers might have a roster spot to fill for a guard that can get tough buckets in crunch time.