SCOTTIE PIPPEN CAME to thoughts as Thompson was coming to phrases along with his choice to remove the potential for returning to the Warriors. Thompson lights up when he talks about when Pippen, a six-time champion as Michael Jordan’s co-star with the Chicago Bulls, signed with the Portland Path Blazers in 1999. Thompson was 9 on the time dwelling in Portland, the place his father, Mychal, performed for the primary eight years of his profession after the Blazers chosen him No. 1 within the 1978 NBA draft. Thompson was ecstatic that the native workforce had added such an icon, one in all his favourite gamers from childhood. “That was like the perfect day of my life,” he mentioned. “That was so superb.” Pippen was 34 on the time, the identical age Thompson is now. Whereas Pippen wasn’t capable of earn one other ring in Portland, his success there serves as inspiration for Thompson. “He did a lot for the Blazers. They were three minutes away from a Finals appearance,” Thompson said in reference to Portland’s Game 7 loss to the Lakers in the 2000 Western Conference finals. -via ESPN / November 12, 2024
