not a chance

Pippen had the better career for sure. Let's count this up. Pippen (6 championship rings, 8 time All NBA Defensive, 3 time All NBA First Team, 7 time NBA All-Star, 1 All-Star MVP, NBA Top 50 player) . Iverson (0 championship rings, Rookie of the year, 1 MVP, 1 All Star MVP,......) I could dig up more, but damn the rings say it all. AI probably had better stats, but without a single ring......

re:

Pippen had Michael Jordan. AI had Dikembe Mutombu. I think it's fair to say that rings shoudln't solely be used to determine the worth of a player.

rings

doesn't determine the worth of a player. rings are one of the definitive goals in anyones nba basketball career. AI was the better overall player, Pippen had the better overall career. AI's career isn't over yet so things can definitely change. 6 rings to zero, in addition to all of the other accomplishments make it an easy victory for Scotty Pippen.

A.I. Not Even Close

Pippen is considered a legend while A.I. just a really good scorer. I think Pippen wins hands down.

exactly

i don't think it's even close.......AI will have to accomplish a lot over the next few years in order to come close..

20 years from now

nobody will really be talking about scottie pippen while everyone will still be talking about AI. even now, nobody talks about pippen. Pippen's career stats (while playing alongside MJ) aren't event that impressive. they're Lamar Odom-ish (20 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast). sure he won 6 rings but Robert Horry has 7 so does that make Horry better than Pippen? -bB

titles

i did emphasize championship rings as a big factor in a determining the success of a player's career....but let's not forget that Pippen is one of the best defenders ever as well

I Don't Think Anyone....

....will be talking about A.I. in the next 20 years either. The only thing he is really known for being a ball hog and not showing up to....practice.....practice?!? C'mon man....it's only practice!!

re:

AI is one of the greatest scorers the NBA has ever seen. He's played through countless injuries and carried those hapless Sixers into the playoffs for years. Scottie Pippen is a very good player and a good defender. One of the best defenders of all time? Probably not, especially since you can't gauge that sort of thing. It's great to win a title but Scottie Pippen was never even the man on his own team, AI took his team to the finals with Dikembe Mutombu, Eric Snow, and Aaron McKie by his side. How did that team even make it to the finals? Hard work and determination by AI.

best career vs best player

I think the there is a clear distinction between best career vs best player. Pippen had the better career, and AI is the better player. What do you guys think defines a player's career? As for his defense, Pippen made the All NBA First Defensive Team 8 times. Is that enough? At least one of the best defenders ever at his position?

Career wise, without

Career wise, without question Pippen has had the more accomplished career. On paper if you compare the two, Pippen definitely has more accolades and achievements. However, it's the intangibles that AI has such as carrying a team on his shoulders, being one of the smallest players in the league, getting to the NBA finals without almost any support, etc. Respect wise, AI deserves more respect than Pippen and in most fan's minds AI is a better player than Pippen. In this day's league Pippen would be nothing more than a player like Odom.

re:

Mike, I think you're greatly underestimating how helpful it is to play with Michael Jordan, another excellent perimeter defender. Pippen had a ton of help defense from MJ, AI had Eric Snow. AI is the better player hands down. Find me another player that plays through as many injuries he has, can carry a team on his shoulders like he has, and dominate the game at his height. The only gripe I have with AI is his defense, as he is more of a risk taker than a good defender. Moreover, Pippen may have more accolades but AI is the better player.

scroll up

@lebron23, thanks for taking the time to break down MJ's impact. If you scroll up, I said Pippen had the better career and AI is the better player. -)

basketball a team sport

just because AI can fill up a score card doesn't make him a greater player than pippen, much less suggest he has had a better career. first off, yes, pippen played with jordan all those years they won championships, but it's not as if the bulls disappeared when Jordan retired for two seasons. Led by Scottie Pippen, the team that "so-called experts" predicted to miss the playoffs without Jordan won 55 games, just a single win fewer than AI's 56 wins as a 76er during their run to the finals in 2000-01 and just 2 wins fewer than the Jordan-led Bulls who won the title in '93. That season ('93-'94) Pippen's statistics were Oscar Robinson-esque, although nobody will ever again average a triple-double for an entire season (and the Pippen-Odom comparisons are ridiculous): 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.9 steals, while shooting 49.1% from the field and a career-best 32% from the three-point line. Needless to say, the fact that Pippen averaged a career of 16 ppg, 6.4 rpg, and 5.2 apg as "second fiddle" on teams all but one and three-quarter seasons of his career is remarkable. iverson has been blessed with the mantle of "number one" on every team he has played for (carmelo anthony is even considered more expendable than him out in denver) so he doesn't know what it's like to have a play called for someone else until recently. statistics aside for a moment, lets not forget that aside from his one trip to the nba finals in 2001, which DID include Dikembe Mutombo's most stellar season along with Eric Snow, Tyrone Hill, Theo Ratliff (who was spectacular before the trade), and Aaron McKey, Iverson's career record with the 76ers was 353-353 until the start of the season he was traded to Denver. His career winning percentage thus is only slightly above .500, whereas Pippen's is well above it. No matter who the NBA player is you talk to, they will say winning is the true barometer of a great player, a team player. Which brings me to my final point: Iverson in Denver. High expectations with two guys averaging over 30 points apiece before uniting in the Rocky Mountain city. All they have done is lose in the first round each year, rather significantly too (swept by L.A. this season and winning only one against the Spurs the year previous). With the kind of talent on Denver, shouldn't one of the best players ever to set foot on an NBA court at least make it out of the first round? Scottie Pippen has led or co-lead three different teams to the playoffs (a number of whom didn't possess the talent that Denver has had) and two of which made it to the conference finals, one winning 6 championships (the Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, and Portland Trailblazers). Pippen's one season in Houston can be seen as unfulfilled due to the NBA lockout; that sort of thing can really mess with chemistry. Iverson is a great player and the next time a list of the 50 greatest players comes out he might very well be on there...with Scottie Pippen. To be completely honest, this whole argument is negligible because they have led such different careers. Iverson is a better scorer, Pippen a better winner and all-around player. based on these blunt comparisons, i say pippen because winning and all-around talent makes for a better player in my book.