Kings Spoke to NBA Legend for Coaching Role

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Sydney Kings co-owner Luc Longley has revealed the club sounded out NBA legend Scottie Pippen for a coaching role last year.

As the Kings were going through their process to find a new coach in 2021, which led to Chase Buford being hired, a call was made to Pippen, who Longley played with at the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.

Pippen is a seven-time NBA All-Star and six-time NBA Champion and considered one of the greatest defensive players in league history.

“Scottie was one of the guys we spoke to for a coaching role here," Longley told ESPN.

"It would have been a complex one, he doesn't have a lot of coaching experience, but I do know what his basketball brain is like.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SCOTTIE PIPPEN ?<br><br>He left a short video to the Kings before their game tonight! Thanks Scottie ??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/OTa6kTed9B">pic.twitter.com/OTa6kTed9B</a></p>— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1524162373497630722?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“He would have been good at capturing the imaginations of the group and leading them. We would have had to put good local support around him, but we agreed the time wasn't now.

“I think Scottie will start his coaching journey somewhere but while his kids are still young, he might stay in the States.”

Pippen was a long-time teammate of Michael Jordan, with the duo one of the most popular and successful pairings in NBA history.