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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Mills still fighting mad at Portland's 'Punk'

Geoffrey C. Arnold of the Oregonian reports that the Warriors’ Chris Mills is having a hard time getting over Bonzi Wells. The two were engaged in a fight at the end of last week’s Warriors/Blazers game. The tussle (and Mills’ actions afterward) earned both players multi-game suspensions.

Mills’ recently let his feelings on Wells be known.

"I think Bonzi Wells is a straight punk, with a capital P," Mills said to the Contra Costa Times. "He's tough on the court. And I'll give it to them, the Blazers, their unity was there. They had all 12 players on that floor. When they all stand up, he feels invincible. That's cool, but I think he's a punk.

"He tried to sucker punch me. Then he moon-walked like Michael Jackson back toward the tunnel. That's a punk move and he's a punk." Mills also had some unkind words for a few of his teammates (Antawn Jamison, Erick Dampier and Danny Fortson) who retreated to the locker room during the fight. "If there was somebody in the locker room when stuff was going down, they wouldn't be at the top of my list of people I want with me in a foxhole," Mills said. "I would hope that nobody was going to the locker room when the altercation happened."

Jamison was not happy with his teammates’ comments and responded, "My teammates know that in any kind of situation, I have their backs and they have mine," Jamison said. "If someone would think that, they don't know who I am."

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Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers

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Malone's statistics dip, but he's still the Jazz

With his advancing age and retreating productivity, it has been a trying season for Karl Malone.

Malone's scoring has plummeted, and his shooting percentage is at a career low. His annual talk about retirement and a trade this summer irked Jazz owner Larry Miller, and Malone has feuded with coach Jerry Sloan. Meanwhile, the Jazz is barely keeping its head above water and does not have the look of a contender.

Malone, 39, will be paid $19.25 million this season, his 18th in the league. Malone knows Jazz fans expect more from a player earning one of the league's highest salaries, but that doesn't make him feel better about being targeted as a scapegoat.

Via Oregonian

Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers

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