Scottie Pippen Quotes

I went from five foot eleven to six foot eight, and the more ball I played, the more I caught on to the game.

I was 5-foot-8 when I graduated high school, but then I shot up to 6-foot-4 and got more into playing basketball.

I was 5'3' when I was 15, but suddenly shot up to over 6 feet by the time I turned 18 and it was clear that an NBA career was up for grabs.

I was 5-6, a little chubby, spot-up 3-point shooter. So I couldn't blame the schools for not recruiting me. But then my junior year, I was 5-11, hit a little growth spurt.

It wasn't until late high school and early college that I gained enough size and skill to make me welcome on intramural basketball teams.

I think, growing up, I was seen as the perfect power forward. For a long time, I thought maybe I was supposed to be a basketball player.

It's been a journey, the NBA. It's taken me a lot farther than I ever expected.

I don't know if I could have made it as an NBA player. But I knew I could make it as a coach.

At first, I wanted to be a good player in the NBA. When I get to a team where you have one of the two best scorers in the league, I just said to myself that I needed to do something. I need to do something to help my team, something to make my name. That's where I started to focus on defense.

I used to watch LeBron on TV growing up, and now I'm playing my first game against him.

If someone had told me at fourteen that I'd be six-ten, I might have stuck with basketball, in all seriousness.

For every LeBron James that jumps onto the scene, or every Derrick Rose that does really well in year one, you have a lot of others that take time to transition. Those guys are just brilliant in their own way, but a lot of other guys need a little help along the way.

For so many years, I wished it could have been different. I wished I could have gotten the opportunity sooner. I would have loved to see what had happened had I got to the NFL right out of college and all of those different things.

I look at the N.B.A. as a job, a great job to have, so I think, for me, I would have loved the opportunity to go to the N.B.A. out of high school. If you're not ready, you're not ready. If you are ready, I think you should be able to go.

I learned a lot in the NBA.

I really didn't want to play basketball for the longest time, but I just wouldn't stop growing. But I always wanted to be a professional soccer player.

When I look at the way I was able to play in my 17th year, I feel like I earned the right to play in the NFL for another one.

I love basketball so much, I love playing it. I just never thought I could make it to college, make it to the NBA or stand up here today in front of you guys and be an NBA MVP. It’s just a surreal feeling, and I had so much help, so many people believe in me when I didn’t believe in myself.

If I'd gone straight to the NBA, I don't think I would have been ready as a player or a person.

Growing up, I played about every sport imaginable except soccer and hockey. I've always had a passion for basketball. I remember actually playing basketball when I was two or three years old. The time I knew that I could really take my game to the next level.

I thought it was pathetic: The league just decided that Grant Hill would go right to the top.

I have the most amazing job. I play basketball and keep working at it and trying to get better.

When I was younger, to be honest, watching Bo Jackson, I dreamed of playing both sports. But as I got older, the opportunities were much better in hockey than baseball.

I want to go to the NBA and be an All-Star, to be honest with you.

When I was coming up through the programs with the Amateur Basketball Association, it was height: they looked for the tall players, and they looked to develop us. I was 15 when they first got me.