Scottie Pippen

I went through ups and downs as a young player dealing with criticism and things of that nature. To finally win that first NBA championship, it was definitely a relief of a lot of pressure and frustration we dealt with as a team. It was great to bring a championship to the city of Chicago.

I wasn't really that interested in playing. I had gone through some hard times not playing in high school, but my coach had it in his mind that basketball was the way I would get an education.

When I say I played with the greatest, let's not forget I also played for the greatest coach of all time.

As a player that has played this game, I know, at the end of the day I've had numerous amount of surgeries, and the doctors released me at numerous amount of times to go and play. But a lot of those times didn't mean go and play against the best in the world right now, but to get yourself ready to compete again.

Yes, I think the '96 Bulls are the greatest of all time. I think the 72-10 record speaks for itself and the fact that we were able to cap it off with a championship. What it boils down to is we had a dominant style, a dominant defense, and we were a very good offensive team. It was the way we dominated our opponents that separated ourselves.

No matter how well you do in the regular season, it has to be capped off with a championship to really mark your legacy in the game.

Coaching jobs are far and few between; you try and get into the right situation and take advantage of it from there.

It had been a long journey for me just to get drafted. I had to work very hard as a collegiate player just to get recognized, being at a small school.

I wasn't given a scholarship out of high school, and that allowed me to learn what hard work was early on.

If things work out for you as a team, then there are individual things that happen for you. But if you're not talented enough as a team, its hard for people to give you the recognition.

Defense was one thing I was really able to work at and get better.

The odds were against me when I arrived at Central Arkansas. I was barely 6-foot-2 and didn't have a scholarship. But I always felt I could make it to the NBA; it was as if I had foreseen my future, and I knew I would make it.