Pippen not quite ready to call it a day

As Scottie Pippen visit's Chicago for what many consider to be the final time as an NBA player, with Pippen previously stating that this will be his last hurrah, Scottie is hinting that he may just have more fuel left int he tank after all.

Ex-Bulls teammates Michael Jordan and Horace Grant both appear to be in their final seasons in the league - though with Jordan you can never be sure - Pippen believes that if he can continue to contribute he will continue to play. Play where, however, is the question.

Pippen has not ruled out playing again in Portland, but their cap situation might prevent the six-time champion from returning. But what about a reunion with Phil Jackson in Los Angeles?

"If I can contribute, yeah," Pippen said. "If Phil wanted me and I could contribute, not be a 12th or 13th man."

"I don't regret going to Portland," Pippen said. "The only regret I have is going to Houston. I should have sat out the '99 season and then put myself on the market. I tried to push a deal [to the Lakers from Houston]. That's what pushed me out of Houston."

And of course there cannot be a Pippen-Chicago story with yet another dig at Jerry Krause and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, whom Pippen still feels were to blame for the dynasty break up.

"There's nothing for me to regret about that," said Pippen, who said he would have rejected a one-year $15M contract to keep the team together and left should Jordan have not retired. I didn't do anything wrong. It was not the players' fault. The regret should be for Krause and Jerry Reinsdorf. What they did makes what we did much greater. Because it's going to take that much longer for them to put any type of team together, a team that can just compete for the playoffs. The league is getting better, but they keep going back and trying to play catch-up."

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Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers

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Bryant dazzles Denver

Marc Spears reports on Saturday's Nuggets loss to the Lakers. The final score was 112-93. The Nuggets played pretty well but were noticeably in awe of the Lakers.

It was the first sell out of the season for the Nuggets. Too bad more people at the Pepsi Center were Lakers fans rather than Nuggets fans.

Via The Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers

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Lakers "excited" with the losing?

A champion is not supposed to go down like this. And if, in fact, the Los Angeles Lakers are down they do not seem to be too worried about their situation.

The word 'excite' is one of the last which would come into my mind if I was a vital piece to the three time defending champion puzzle that has started this season with a 13-19 record that includes a win over the lowly Denver Nuggets last night and that looks better than it did earlier in the season pre-Shaq.

But excite is the word chosen by Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who's 38 point haul along with a strong game by the freshly-married Shaquille O'Neal last night was needed to dig out victory on the road. According to Bryant this situation is different from the norm, but it is still exciting and the Lakers have a favorible schedule ahead next month.

"The feeling I sense from us right now is that we understand we're faced with a big challenge, and we at a point it's starting to excite us. We are tired of going out there and doing the same old same old. We have a good month in January; the schedule is favorable; we will be able to get some rest, and we will have to respond to that. It's going to take a little bit of luck and a little bit of hard work. We need them both."

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Los Angeles Lakers

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