Scottie Pippen Encourages Bulls Players
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Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images(CHICAGO) — Former Bulls all-star Scottie Pippen knows a thing or two about winning. Pippen was part of six NBA championship teams during his time in Chicago.
The Hall of Famer is now encouraging the current Bulls players after they lost their all-star guard Derrick Rose with a torn ACL during Game 1.
“Yes, you lost one of your brothers — a warrior in every sense of the word — but I know and you know you’ve still got a lot of fight left,” Pippen wrote in a letter to the team posted on the Bulls website Tuesday. “You’re still the best team in the NBA until an opponent proves otherwise. So go out there and play like it. You’ve earned that much with Derrick along the way, but you also won a lot of games without him. It’s time to meet the challenge.”
Not only has Pippen encouraged the team, but also Rose who reached out to everybody on the team on Monday.
“(Derrick) said let’s get it going, let’s bring that ring back to Chicago and we’ll go from there. … He’s our captain and that has not changed,” said Bulls guard John Lucas of the meeting with Rose. “He’s always with me, talking to me [about] what I need to do better, what I can do better. When you have a leader like that who gets everybody motivated, it’s always a plus.”
Lucas has stepped up during the regular season in Rose’s absence and did well. The Bulls will start their playoff journey without Rose tonight in Game 2 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
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