Scottie Pippen

Your job, what you do every day, I think it takes a high priority over anything. That was something I dedicated myself to throughout my career.

I'm thankful that I was able to have a long, healthy career for the most part.

While I dealt with my share of injuries throughout my career, I was fortunate to have been healthy for the majority of our run in the 1990s. The same can be said about Michael Jordan.

To be named as one of the finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2010 on Friday was a special moment for me. As a player, it's something that you dream about. It's an honor that you have to earn based on your career and the respect from your peers around you.

For me, getting your number retired is the greatest accomplishment. There is no accolade with more significance that you can receive from an organization or school. Whether it was my four years at Central Arkansas or all my seasons with the Bulls in Chicago, it's a sign of respect for what I have done.

To be in a position where an organization like the Bulls creates a bust of you that will permanently be displayed in a building like the United Center says it all. It's hard to put into words because it is such an honor. It's great to know that something like that will be around forever.

It may sound simple, but both winning and losing can become a mind-set, and I won't accept losing - ever.

Chemistry is a very important element for any team that wants to be serious about winning.

If you're not on a team that's winning, it takes a lot out of you as a player.

Statistics are one thing. But if you're not putting up the numbers as far as winning, they're not going to consider you for things like the MVP.

I worked at a place called Virco. They build school desks.

You look back at the '95 season, and a lot of those guys were getting mega minutes. Michael Jordan was out playing baseball. We were still winning, won 55 games I think, so those guys were all very content and happy with the way that things were going that year.