Scottie Pippen in his element (NBA.com).
For any of the kids who are too young to know, the title is a play on the must-watch movie Euro Trip and the tragic song “Scotty Doesn’t Know.” What did Scotty not know? His girl is cheating on him. On Scotty’s birthday. In the parking lot, on his front lawn, while she’s “at church” or “shopping.” The lyrics of this song would crush any man’s soul. I feel like Scottie Pippen had a similar experience recently. Not the cheating part, just the soul leaving his shoes over a girl part. I don’t focus much on relationships or drama in the sports world, but this was a little too messed up to overlook.
Don’t Know Scottie?
For people who are too young to know Scotty Doesn’t Know, you may not know who Scottie Pippen is either. Pippen was one of the best to ever do it in the NBA. He was one of the greatest small forwards of all time. Scottie played 17 seasons and won six NBA championships. He was the first NBA player to win a title and receive an Olympic gold medal in the same year. Pippen actually did that feat twice—once in 1992 and once in 1996.
Scottie Pippen was well known for his years playing with Michael Jordan on the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls became a championship-level team, creating world-wide interest in the NBA in the 1990s and impacting the history of basketball forever.
What Scottie Did Know
Delivering
Scottie knows pain well. Earlier in his life, he was better at dealing it, but more recently, he has been receiving it in spades. In his early 20s, he married his girlfriend, Karen, who was the mother of his firstborn son, Antron. They divorced in 1990—something possibly linked to his affair with another woman, Chyvette. an innocent bystander who didn’t know her man was married with a kid, allegedly.
Keeping the bad relationship train rolling, Scottie would be arrested for battery on his fiancée, Yvette. He would also get in trouble for possession of a firearm, all in a year and a half from 1994 to 1995. Pippen spent a little more time in court with his former partners. Yvette and a former girlfriend, Sonya, wanted alimony (isn’t that just for spouses?) and for him to acknowledge two more of his kids, Taylor and Sierra. Taylor had a twin, Tyler, but she would die at nine days old.
Receiving
Unlucky in love, things came to a head for Scottie Pippen in the 2010s. He filed for what turned out to be a messy divorce with his wife of nearly 20 years, Larsa Pippen. He filed in 2016 because he said she was cheating, dropped it, and then Larsa filed again in 2018. It took them three years to work out the details, particularly custody of their two youngest children, who were still minors. He has four children with Larsa in total: Scottie Jr., Preston, Justin, and Sophia.
In 2019, Chyvette (remember the side chick from his first marriage?) took him to small claims court, demanding expenses she had incurred during their relationship from 1987 to 1993. She had racked up some bills after paying for all the gas, hotel bills, and more. Pippen said he would pay but never did—even after he was making the big bucks. Women are taking Scottie to court for things I didn’t even know were possible.
Tragically, Scottie lost his oldest son, Antron, in 2021 at just 33. A terrible loss for Karen and Scottie.
What Scottie Did Not Know (or maybe he did)
In one of the biggest stingers I’ve seen in recent history, Larsa has brought her former husband to his metaphorical knees. Ms. Larsa dated NBA star Malik Beasley in 2021. That isn’t a problem; they’re separated, and she is single and free to mingle. But then Ms. Pippen dropped the hammer on Scottie by dating the son of his arch nemesis, Michael Jordan. Marcus and Larsa hit it off despite their 16-year age gap, and her kids apparently love him. Pippen swears she didn’t know Marcus when he was a child back in the day and that they only knew each other for the last few years. How many? Scottie does not know.
Wait, aren’t Scottie and Michael good friends? Nope. After Michael Jordan’s documentary “The Last Dance” premiered in 2020, Pippen didn’t like how he was portrayed, and he made that clear. He also said Jordan was a horrible player and teammate. Some people, like Bill Walton, are upset at Pippen for speaking about Michael that way.
Dennis Rodman had Pippen’s back. Former archrivals and now friends, Dennis and Scottie have been through it all. Rodman wishes that Pippen didn’t care about what other people had to say. He also feels that Scottie was always in Michael Jordan’s shadow, that he was underrated and underpaid, and that he should hold his head higher than Jordan in the documentary. At least someone is in Scottie’s corner, because it sure is not his ex-wife sleeping with the enemy—or, in this case, the enemy’s son.
For my other non-relationship drama articles, look here.
