Heading into his second season with the Memphis Grizzlies, Scotty Pippen Jr. has continued to carve out a bigger role on the court as the team aims to secure a spot in the Western Conference Playoffs. In a recent interview, the young guard reflected on his NBA career, and what it means to carry the weight of being Scottie Pippen’s son.
“I just, you know, embrace it,” Pippen Jr. said during an interview with Sloane Knows. When discussing the weight that comes with his name, he admitted: “I feel like the pressure has gone since the further I’ve went in my career cause I just don’t even care about it anymore.”
As he explained further, Scotty made it clear that, at a certain point, he had to put aside the weight of expectations in order to focus on his own journey in the NBA. “You know, it is what it is,” he said. “You kind of either embrace it, or you just let it, you know, eat you alive.”
Despite the challenges, the Memphis guard expressed gratitude for his father’s legacy and the lessons he’s learned along the way. “I think it’s been great to have had Dad played in the NBA,” he said. “It gave me back so much information and so much time, and help me to be always motivated. Just to make him proud, and make it to the NBA, and succeed in that.”
Vanderbilt Commodores guard Scotty Pippen Jr. (2) receives a hug from his father, former NBA Scotty Pippen.
Pippen Jr. reveals the mystery of the name spelling
In the same conversation, the young guard was asked about the different spellings of his name compared to his father’s, with the younger Pippen being called “Scotty” and his father typically referred to as “Scottie.” The Memphis player was candid about the confusion. “To be honest, I’m still kind of confused on it too. It makes no sense, I don’t know why my parents did that,” he admitted with a smile.
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“Basically my dad’s name is with a Y. But for some reason he writes it with IE on everything,” he continued. “He switches it up. Like, sometimes he’ll go somewhere and he’ll write it with a Y, and somewhere else he’ll write it with IE… It’s very confusing.”
He also shared that such confusion often extends into his professional career. “Even some of my coaches, like last year when I got here, in films sessions they would put it with IE and I’m like, ‘That’s not my name,’” Pippen Jr. revealed. “I’m so used to it that it doesn’t even matter.”
