In his recent interview, one of NBA greats, former Chicago Bulls’ small forward Scottie Pippen talked about his first year in the NBA and how he was forced to up his physical form to survive in the league.
“Probably the best thing that happened to me was that I hurt my back after my first year in the league because it really put me in a position to focus on the physical aspect of how to survive in this game and how I would survive as a player with a bad back. It was a big challenge for me. I feel like I met that challenge, surviving 16 years of hard playing. Those things that I dealt with early on in my career definitely prepared me for learning and getting better,” Chicago Bulls’ legend said.
“I have to give credit to a lot of veteran players that I played with, too, that toughened me up early, like Charles Oakley. Having the opportunity to play with a guy like Sedale Threatt, who is the epitome of the gym rat. A lot of their habits rubbed off on me, even bad habits too, but you try to hold those down. Those were things that really helped develop me as a player,” Pippen remembered.
