So, the other day, I was watching some old basketball highlights, you know, just chilling. And the name Scottie Pippen came up. I always knew him as Jordan’s right-hand man, an incredible defender, just a beast on the court.
But then, someone mentioned his crazy growth spurt, and I was like, wait, what? I honestly didn’t know the details. My memory just had him as this tall, lanky player. So, I got curious. You know how it is, one little thing catches your attention, and you gotta dig into it.
My Little Digging Process
I put down my remote and picked up my tablet. Started searching around. Just simple stuff like “scottie pippen height”, “pippen growth spurt college”.
What I found was pretty wild. Turns out, when he finished high school, he wasn’t exactly towering over anyone. Reports said he was maybe around 6’1″. Not exactly the typical height for an NBA legend, right? He didn’t even get major scholarship offers.
This is the part that got me:
- He went to a small school, University of Central Arkansas.
- He apparently worked as the team manager initially, or something like that, just to be around the program.
- THEN, boom. While he was in college, he shot up like crazy. Grew something like 6 or 7 inches!
Imagine that. Going from a relatively average height guard, maybe overlooked, to suddenly having the frame of a dominant NBA forward. He ended up being like 6’7″ or 6’8″. That physical change, combined with his existing skills, must have been game-changing.
What I Took Away From It
It wasn’t just about the height, though. It was the whole story. Here’s this guy, not heavily recruited, ends up at a small school, keeps working, and then nature gives him this huge boost. But he had to have the skills and the drive already developing, otherwise, the height wouldn’t have mattered as much.
It really made me think about potential. Sometimes people bloom late. You can’t always judge based on where someone is right now. Whether it’s sports, career, whatever. You just gotta keep at it.
So yeah, that was my little dive into the Scottie Pippen growth spurt story. Started from a random comment I heard and ended up being a pretty cool reminder about perseverance and how unpredictable development can be. Just a piece of basketball history I hadn’t fully appreciated before.
