Basketball Hall of Fame forward Scottie Pippen and his son Scotty Pippen Jr. don’t appear to see eye to eye on the basketball court.
Pippen Jr. — who recently signed a two-way contract with the Lakers after going undrafted — revealed he and his father stopped playing one-on-one a few years ago because things were getting petty.
“My dad stopped playing me. I was wearing him out,” a smiling Pippen Jr. told reporters Tuesday, after a Summer League practice with the Lakers. “I used to beat him, and he would fake injuries and stuff. He wouldn’t give me the credit so we stopped playing a while ago.”
Pippen Jr., who made First Team All-SEC last season with 20.4 points per game for Vanderbilt, said he and his dad stopped playing together while at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were in the house locked up [during COVID] and he’d be like, ‘I’m not gonna get hurt playing with you.’ So he stopped playing,” Pippen Jr. said of his now 56-year-old dad.
When the father-son duo would play together, Pippen Jr. said, “[My dad] wouldn’t try to back me down. A little bit, he would use little fakes and stuff like that, post me up, but mostly the perimeter.”
Pippen later added that having a father who played in the NBA is a “different type of pressure” and “level” to play at. Pippen Sr.’s résumé includes six NBA titles, seven All-Star nods, an All-Star MVP, three All-NBA First Team selections and eight All-NBA Defensive First Team selections.
Scotty Pippen Jr. at the NBA combine on May 20, 2022. NBAE via Getty Images
Scottie Pippen at a Clippers-Suns game in Los Angeles on April 6, 2022. NBAE via Getty Images“I would definitely say there is a different type of camaraderie between guys whose fathers played in the NBA because going through this whole process, like when we were kids, there was always a different type of pressure on us I would say — a different type of expectation,” Pippen Jr. said. “So I tip my hat to all those guys.”
In addition to Pippen Jr., the Lakers also signed Shareef O’Neal, son of team legend Shaquille O’Neal, to a Summer League deal.
“They’re trying to do something special,” Pippen Jr. said. “This is a team that competes every year. It’s championship intentions every year. I think it’s the right place for me and I’m excited to be here.”
The Lakers went 33-49 last season and missed the playoffs.
