When Michael Jordan came out of retirement in 1994 and returned to the Bulls, his agent, David Falk, had his office send a simple fax to the media. It read: “I’m back.”
Scottie Pippen didn’t even do that. In fact, his return to the Bulls against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night after missing the team’s first 35 games came as a total shock to everybody–almost as shocking as when Pippen threatened to demand a trade in November.
Bulls coach Phil Jackson told the team during its morning shootaround. Pippen chose not to talk to the media before the game.
“It’s surprising,” Jordan said upon entering the United Center. “I think it’s something we all have been hoping for. Now we can start putting everything together and moving in the right direction.”
If that’s what the Bulls are calling it, they got moving in that direction with an 87-82 victory over the Warriors in front of a sellout crowd that was just as surprised as everybody else in the building.
Not only did Pippen suit up for the first time since the NBA Finals, he was back in his familiar starting role. He received a standing ovation when he first ran out on the floor for pregame warmups. He received another ovation when he was announced.
When Pippen scored the Bulls’ first four points of the game, there was a rousing roar. From that point on, ovations were sprinkled throughout the rest of the evening.
Pippen ended up doing an admirable job for a guy who wasn’t even expected to take part in a full practice session for at least another week.
“He’s one of those rare athletes who can step right in and play well,” Steve Kerr said. “He’s capable, even without a lot of practice, to come out and be a big factor in the game.”
According to Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause, the decision to activate Pippen from the injured list (he was replaced by center Bill Wennington, who had a recurrance of inflammation in his right elbow) came after a lengthy rehabilitation session with Al Vermeil, the team’s strength and conditioning consultant.
For the last three weeks, Pippen had stepped up his workouts with Vermeil while foregoing practice with his teammates. Pippen had hit the wall in his workouts early last month when he was preparing for a possible return to the team by Christmas.
“He’s worked very hard with Al,” Krause said. “The key decision in him coming back was Al’s. Al had to tell us that Scottie was physically ready to play. Then Phil and I talked. He’s ready to play, physically and he’s done a good job of rehabbing.”
Pippen’s surprising return was the latest in four months of surprises that he has unleashed on the team.
First there was the announcement by the team Oct. 6 that Pippen already had surgery on his left foot, which he injured against the Miami Heat during the Eastern Conference finals. This came after speculation Pippen had delayed foot surgery during the off-season to get back at Krause for trying to trade him over the summer.
Then, while recovering, Pippen shocked his teammates during a West Coast trip in late November when he said he would demand a trade from the team. Pippen vowed he would never play another game for the Bulls.
Then last month Pippen began dropping hints that he would instead return to the team after Krause said he had no intenion of trading Pippen.
“It was all his decision,” Jordan said. “I think he had time enough to think about his commitment to us and how important he had been to us.”
Pippen’s teammates began dropping hints late last month that Pippen would indeed return to the Bulls. But nobody expected him to return this soon, figuring he’d wait for sometime closer to the All-Star break.
