“I guess it’s hard to believe I’m out of the playoffs” – Scottie Pippen on his failed stint with Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon in Houston originally appeared on Basketball Network.
After the Michael Jordan era had ended in Chicago, Scottie Pippen took his talents to the Houston Rockets to team up with Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon. The post-Jordan era was like the wild west, where everyone had the chance to be kings of the hardcourt. The Rockets were the favorites to win it all, given their new and improved roster, headlined by Hall of Famers.
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Failed campaign
Lo and behold, the 1998-99 Rockets became one of the worst superteams in history. They squeezed out a 31-19 record in the lockout-shortened season and were eliminated by a young Los Angeles Lakers team in the first round of the 1999 NBA Playoffs. A befuddled Pippen spoke to the media, still trying to comprehend what went wrong.
“It’s shocking,” Pip said, per the Chicago Tribune. “I’m still wondering what happened or why we didn’t do better than we looked on paper. This team is competitive. I felt we had an opportunity this season, but we let it slip by.”
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“Right now, I guess it’s hard to believe I’m out of the playoffs, that my season is over,” Pippen said after the first first-round elimination of his career. “But there are a lot of other guys out there in my position.”
The Rockets lost Clyde Drexler to retirement over the summer, and Pip felt he could fill the gap with his defense, playmaking, and decent offensive chops. His championship experience was also his greatest asset, so the front office completely trusted Scottie’s abilities to guide the Rockets to the promised land.
Pip learned that having legends on a basketball team is good, but nowhere near enough. The team wasn’t deep enough and had more young and inexperienced guys than veterans. They had a couple of rookies, some two-year players, and their most tenured guys didn’t have enough playoff experience.
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“I take a lot on myself,” Pippen said. “I know I have to face our management, our owner, (coach) Rudy (Tomjanovich), because coming here they felt I was the one piece they needed to move on. I do shoulder a big part of the blame. I felt I could have given this team much more throughout the season and in the playoffs. But somebody other than myself and Charles and Dream needed to step up.”
Hopeful
Despite his heartbreaking playoff exit, Pippen was hopeful for the future. The small forward vowed to change his leadership style and be more authoritative. Perhaps he understood why Jordan acted like a tyrant during their Bulls days, because it was this style that brought the best out of others.
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“I sort of let this organization down,” Pippen said. “Coming into next season I’m not going to be afraid to step on anybody’s toes, to take more of a leadership role. I have to be ready to lead this team.”
Pip spoke too soon, since ahead of the 1999-00 season, he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Stacey Augmon, Kelvin Cato, Ed Gray, Carlos Rogers, Brian Shaw, and Walt Williams. With an ageing Barkley and Olajuwon, the Rockets chose to hit the reset button. Scottie’s quest to redeem himself in Houston never came to fruition.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 4, 2025, where it first appeared.