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Pippen Ready to Retire
Six months ago, Scottie Pippen issued a "This is probably it for me" declaration that last season was looking more and more like his last in an NBA uniform.
Apparently he's ready to make good on his intention.
The 17-year veteran, who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships and returned last year to the team for what turned out to be an injury-shortened season, is expected to announce his retirement Tuesday.
Training camp opens Monday in the form of media sessions, but Pippen will not attend, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Bulls haven't planned a news conference, and there is no word whether Pippen will hold his own news conference or simply send out a news release announcing his retirement.
The Bulls finished 23-59 last season, the first time Pippen, who turned 39 last month, missed the playoffs. He was brought back in 2003 to give a young Bulls team leadership and experience, but he had knee surgery in December and played in only 23 games.
"I'd rather not make a 100 percent commitment" to an 18th season, "but I'm quite sure that this is probably my last season," Pippen said in April.
The seven-time All-Star has one year worth $5 million left on the two-year deal he signed last year. He told the Sun-Times that he will not waive that salary, which requires the Bulls to buy out the final year and absorb a salary-cap hit.
While the Bulls are not expected to retain Pippen in any front-office capacity, the Sun-Times reports, they plan to retire his jersey at some point this season.
"He was holding out on announcing his retirement because he was hoping to get a chance to end his career coming off the bench for a contender," a close friend told the newspaper. "He feels he can still contribute playing limited minutes on a better team that would not need him to play as much. But since nobody else has expressed interest, he's going to call it quits."
Pippen was voted one of the NBA's 50 greatest players. He was traded to Houston in 1999, played one season with the Rockets and then spent four years in Portland. He signed a two-year, $10 million deal to return to Chicago in the offseason and averaged 5.9 points. His career scoring average is 16.1.
Source: AP