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Bill Wennington says Scottie Pippen is his favorite teammate: “He was very accountable”
In their second three-peat championship reign, the Chicago Bulls saw a frontcourt enforcer in the form of Bill Wennington. The 7-foot gentle giant from Canada served as the team's main backup big for starting center Luc Longley and averaged 5.1 points and 2.7 boards in 13.9 minutes for 367 total regular season games as a Bull.
Other than winning three NBA titles, Wennington couldn't be more proud of his six-year Chicago tenure as he was able to play and be in awe of Michael Jordan's greatness on a daily basis. And as it is, he is also happy that he managed to share the court with Scottie Pippen - whom he considers his best teammate ever.
A role model
Pippen is often disregarded as the superstar of the Bulls due to MJ’s shadow and his fair share of issues with the franchise back in the day and even now. Nevertheless, these didn't hinder him from becoming a standout and a well-respected figure in the eyes of all, including Wennington.
"Scottie was my favorite teammate to play with," Wennington said. "Despite how the media depicted him and some of the incidents that happened off the court, when you have a teammate like Scottie who is willing to stand up for his actions on the floor, good or bad, it makes playing with him and the team chemistry a whole lot better.”
Pip as a self-reflective leader
It has to be pointed out that Wennington arrived in Chicago in 1993. The 1993-94 season marked the full season without MJ due to retirement, and Pip was tasked to assume the team's leadership baton. From this, Bill is familiar with how Scottie operated and led by example - which is a significant element in his claim that the legendary small forward is his fondest teammate.
Bill also squashed the misconception around Pippen about his well-known ranting about Toni Kukoc taking the last shot vs. New York Knicks in Game 3 of the 1994 East Semis. There were reports that Scottie took offense about the play as he wasn't the closer. However, Wennington insisted that the star forward still admiringly apologized in front of the team following the game due to the unpleasant prideful mentality he displayed.
"He was very accountable," Wennington said. "A lot of people want to talk about the 1.8 seconds and how Scottie didn't play. But Scottie came into the locker room immediately after the game and understood what he did. He apologized to his teammates.”
