Pippen Has Words for a Friend: ‘Good Luck’

After exchanging everything from elbows to words with the Lakers the entire Western Conference series, Scottie Pippen walked off the floor at Staples Center on Sunday night with his head held high.

Pippen knew he had given everything he had only to fall short with his Portland Trail Blazer teammates. He knew his team had given the Lakers all they could handle and told friend and former Chicago Bull teammate Ron Harper what he thought after he fouled out of Game 7 with 25.4 seconds remaining.

“I wished him good luck and told him to go win a championship,” Pippen said about his short conversation with Harper. “We tried to test him and push him to the limit and they responded today. So we will see if [the Lakers] will be crowned champions.”

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Pippen said the Trail Blazers did everything they set out to do and was aggressive almost to the very end. He said what hurt their chances in the fourth quarter was some questionable officiating.

“The momentum of the game shifted and when that happens, the officiating tends to shift,” Pippen said. “We didn’t get the calls that we were getting. As the momentum swing started, it was just an up-hill battle for us. Even though we had a three-point lead, Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal] was able to camp out in the lane much longer knowing that [Arvydas] Sabonis had five fouls.

“The officials never focus on that and if you allow him to stay in the lane like that and they have guys who are knocking down three-pointers like they did, the Lakers are a tough team to beat.”

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After the game, Portland Coach Mike Dunleavy visited the Lakers’ locker room and congratulated them for advancing to the NBA finals. Dunleavy even shared a warm hug with Rick Fox, who he had words with at the end of Game 6 in Portland.