Scottie Pippen, a retired American professional basketball player, has a net worth of $20 million, accumulated from his 17-season NBA career and various endorsement deals. He earned a total of $109 million in salary alone during his time in the NBA.
Scottie Pippen, a former American professional basketball player, boasts a net worth of $20 million. Throughout his 17-season NBA career, he accumulated $109 million in salary, in addition to earning tens of millions more from endorsement contracts. Pippen spent nine seasons with the Chicago Bulls, playing a crucial role in the team's six NBA title wins, including their record-breaking 1995-1996 season with 72 wins. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star and was named the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994. In the 1996-1997 season, Pippen was recognized as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, and the Chicago Bulls retired his jersey, making him one of only four players to receive this honor. Notably, Pippen is the only NBA player to have won both an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal in the same year, achieving this feat twice, in 1992 and 1996. However, his contract became a source of frustration for Pippen, who later felt that he had signed a bad deal and deserved a renewed extension. Interestingly, Pippen's total NBA salary of $109 million surpassed that of Michael Jordan's $94 million. The majority of Pippen's career earnings stemmed from a five-year, $67.2 million contract with the Houston Rockets prior to the 1998-1999 season, and he earned an additional $10 million after returning to the Bulls for his final two seasons. Initially, Pippen endorsed Avia sneakers, but he later became a Nike representative, releasing several signature shoes, including the notable 1997 Pippen 1. He also had endorsement deals with prominent brands such as Ameritech Cellular TV, Frito-Lay, Visa, McDonald's, Right Guard, and Coca-Cola. Scotty Maurice Pippen was born on September 25, 1965, in Hamburg, Arkansas, as the youngest of Ethel and Preston Pippen's 12 children. His mother stood at 6 feet tall, and his father was 6 feet 1 inch, and all of their children were tall, with Scottie being the tallest. Pippen's father worked in a paper mill until a stroke paralyzed him on his right side, causing him to lose the ability to walk and affecting his speech. Pippen led the Hamburg High School basketball team to the state playoffs and was awarded all-conference honors in his senior year. Despite not receiving any college scholarships, Pippen began playing for the University of Central Arkansas, starting as a 6'1" freshman walk-on and eventually growing to 6'8". In college, Pippen averaged 23.6 points, 10 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and nearly 60% field goal shooting per game. The Seattle Supersonics selected Pippen in the first round of the 1987 NBA Draft, but the Bulls, who were interested in him, arranged a trade to acquire Pippen. Pippen made his NBA debut on November 7, 1987, in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, scoring 10 points, making two steals, and providing four assists and one rebound in 23 minutes of play, helping the Bulls win 104-94. During the 1988 NBA Playoffs, Pippen claimed the starting small forward position, leading the Jordan-led Bulls to the conference semifinals for the first time in over a decade. Pippen was first selected as an NBA All-Star in 1990. In the 1990-1991 season, Pippen emerged as the primary defensive stopper and a significant scoring threat, achieving his first triple-double on November 23 against the Los Angeles Clippers, with 13 points, 12 assists, and 13 rebounds in 30 minutes, resulting in a 105-97 win. For his performance in the 1990-1991 season, Pippen was awarded NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors, and the Bulls went on to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals, leading to their first three-peat, with wins in 1992 and 1993. Pippen played a crucial role in the Bulls' second three-peat, securing NBA championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998. In January 2008, at the age of 42, Pippen made a brief comeback to professional basketball, participating in a tour of Scandinavia and playing two games for the top Finnish league team Torpan Pojat and the top Swedish league team Sundsvall. On July 15, 2010, Pippen returned to the Bulls as a team ambassador, and in 2012, he was appointed senior advisor to Michael Reinsdorf, the Bulls' president and COO. Pippen is remembered for his versatility, agility, and defensive prowess, earning him a reputation as one of the greatest defenders in NBA history. His intense work ethic and athletic physique enabled him to consistently make highlight-reel plays. In 1992, Pippen was named to the original Dream Team for the United States men's Olympic basketball team, which competed in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, and won the gold medal, making Pippen and Michael Jordan the first players to win both an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year. Pippen has a daughter, Sierra Pippen, born in 1995, with his former fiancée Yvette De Leon, and a daughter, Taylor Pippen, born in 1994, with his former girlfriend and model Sonya Roby, whose twin sister, Tyler, died nine days after birth. His son, Scotty Jr., plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, and his daughter, Sophia, appeared in the first season of "Dancing with the Stars: Juniors." Over the years, there have been allegations that Pippen experienced financial difficulties after retiring from the NBA, with some sources claiming he was nearly bankrupt just a few years after his retirement. However, these claims are reportedly exaggerated or false. The largest financial setback Pippen faced was due to a former financial advisor named Robert Lunn, who Pippen sued in 2016, alleging that Lunn had mismanaged $20 million of his money. Lunn had been recommended by the Bulls, but less than a year after engaging his services, Pippen discovered that Lunn had committed bank fraud and invested his money in a real estate project that went bankrupt. Lunn also advised Pippen to spend $4 million on a Gulfstream private jet, which turned out to be non-functional and required an additional $1 million in repairs. In March 2016, Lunn was sentenced to three years in prison for multiple fraud counts, including forging Pippen's signature on a $1.4 million loan. In 2004, Scottie and Larsa Pippen purchased a 10,000-square-foot home on 2.6 acres in the lakefront Chicago suburb of Highland Park for $2.225 million. Pippen put the house on the market in 2016 for $3.1 million, but after three years, he reduced the price to $1.899 million. The home, built in 2003, features six bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, a home movie theater, a sauna, a game room, a brick wine cellar, and a custom-built indoor basketball court with a picture of Pippen's Chicago Bulls jersey on the floor. While the house was not selling, Pippen rented it out for upwards of $16,000 per month. In late 2021, the home was finally sold for just under $2 million. Pippen previously owned a mansion in South Florida, which was on and off the market for a decade, starting in 2010, when it was listed for $16 million. The Venetian-style mansion, located in Harbor Beach, one of Fort Lauderdale's most exclusive neighborhoods, features a pool, basketball court, gourmet kitchen, game room, media room, and waterfront views. Pippen eventually sold this home in September 2021 for $10.54 million.