"THE LIFE OF SCOTTY PIPPEN JR." You Should Know Podcast
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really anywhere you can get a podcast it will be there but today my guest is a young king a young legend he just finished his freshman year at vanderbilt university he averaged 12 points 2.8 rebounds 3.6 assists a game it is the one the only scotty pippen jr what's up bro what's good bro how have you been dealing with this quarantine what have you been doing to stay busy

It's been good for me because I got to come home early. But I've just been lifting, working out, chilling with my little brothers and stuff. So I kind of like it, to be honest. Because if we didn't have Quentin, I would have been back in Nashville going to school and stuff. So it's been good for me. That's dope. So let's just get right into it. Let's start in your high school days at Sierra Canyon. I mean, you played on one of the best teams in the country, definitely the best team in the state. You'll have the state championships to prove it.

You played, it was a crazy roster. You, Cassius Stanley, Kenyon Martin Jr. What do you remember about those times over there at Sierra Canyon? Man, it was good times. Just going to arenas, packing out of gyms, a lot of hype around us. It was way different in college just because there was a lot more freedom. I also had more fun.

You can do whatever you want, but just playing with those guys, it was a lot of fun. A lot of crowd was crazy. So that's what it did for me. And playing on such a popular team, you bring in popular players. I remember because we were in high school around the same time.

I'm a little bit older than you, but I remember seeing a video, I think on overtime, like y'all had the Kardashians coming to your game. And I know when I was in high school, if I had a crush that was in the crowd, I was, I was freaking out. I was nervous. What is it like playing in front of one of the most famous families in the world? Yeah, definitely. It's crazy. But like when we moved, when I first moved to LA my junior year, I was

I started seeing a lot of celebrities come to the game. So like after a while you kind of get used to it. But at first it was like crazy. And then like, but like once you're in a game, I feel like I didn't realize it. But then after the game, you go on YouTube, you see like all these famous people at the game and just like don't see them all. Yeah. You, I mean, I'm assuming you would get accustomed to it. Cause didn't, do y'all have, I'm sure you have some sort of relationship with that family. Cause you went to Kanye's listening party, right?

Yeah, my parents are friends with them, so yeah. Okay, okay, damn. That's crazy. You know, we have different high school experiences, but that's – so to me and to most people, that's crazy. But what is your best memory on the court and off the court at Sierra Canyon? Because y'all are obviously doing some different stuff. Like at tournaments, y'all went to Hawaii and y'all were like scuba diving or something. Nuts. Like what's your best on and off the court experience at Sierra Canyon?

Off the court, I'll probably say going to Hawaii. We were out there for like a week. You know, we got to like miss finals and like take them out there. And we were basically just chilling out there on our own. Like we'd go to school, we'd dive in, just chilling. And it basically, basically it's all the road trips. It's like just traveling with your top 15 friends just in hotels every weekend. Just chilling. So that was some good memories. And on-court memories, I'll probably say when it's our first state championship. Yeah.

Yeah, because it was big for us to win that one because we were doubted a lot that year. And even that state championship game, we went down early and we thought we were going to lose. We just kept fighting and stuff. So winning that state championship game, we had a lot of confidence and we knew we were going to win the next year too. Yeah, I remember watching interviews, y'all, and people would ask, like, are you going for another one? And it seemed like no doubt. Y'all were like, yeah, for sure. Easy.

Because after we feel like we won our first and I feel like there's no one's gonna beat us. Our first year we thought like we were gonna beat ourselves. Because like moving to California, it's kind of hard to play that because it's like a lot of like social media out there. It's like, especially going to school at Sierra Canyon, everyone wants to be like the star on the team. Everyone wants to follow us. Everyone wants to be like the name on YouTube.

Like going out there, it's kind of hard just to play with like such good players because it's hard not to be like selfish. You know what I mean? Right. I like selfish, but I just want to put your name on top. Yeah, get yours in a way, you know? Yeah. I feel you. And wrapping up your high school experience, Vandy, they recruited you kind of late, right? They're like one of the later schools in your recruiting process. What made you choose going to Vanderbilt?

After my junior year, I wasn't really, I didn't really, or after junior year, even in with UIBL and like travel basketball, I didn't feel like I had the offers I deserve. So going into senior year, I really worked hard. And like Vandy was like one of the major schools, the top school they recruited me. And they just talked about like how they feel like I would fit the program.

And the reason I liked them so much because they kind of believed in me when not too many other big schools are reaching out to me. And I just thought it was a good fit, like a city like Nashville. I'm from the East Coast. I'm originally from Chicago. So my family can come to the games. My dad, he likes to go to Arkansas. So it's close there too. So I thought it would be a good fit. And also then the SEC. So I thought it would be the best spot for me to be on a high level, but also to just play my talents and just play my own game.

Right. And going into your freshman year, I mean, first of all, congratulations. You put up some great numbers for a true freshman in the SEC. The numbers I just read out, that's very impressive. And, you know, obviously, y'all's season probably didn't go as planned record-wise. But what is one of the things you learned as a freshman in the SEC? I learned a lot my freshman year. Especially playing in the SEC, a bunch of top teams, top players in the country.

it's hard to win in that league. So I learned this every game, you got to play your best because every night you're playing against one to two pros, every team. And I feel like as a team, we learn how to finish. We like learn that we have to finish games because a lot of those games, although our record doesn't look good, but like a lot of those games, we competed with most of those teams. And at the end of the game, they'll probably slip away. But we just learned how to like finish games. But at the end of the day, we were really young. We had like four or five freshmen.

And we played four, three walk-ons. So it was hard to win, but we still fought. And it was a good learning for us this season. And going into next year, obviously, y'all are taking a little loss with Aaron and Saban declaring for the draft. And those were some big players for y'all. And y'all do have such a young core, like you said. How do y'all plan on filling that gap for next year that you may lose with them leaving?

Yeah, losing Aaron and saving is hard, but I feel like filling that gap is going to be, I don't know, it's going to be tough, but at the same time, we're getting a bunch of new players. Us freshmen, me, Dylan, Jordan, Bailey as well. We're coming back with more knowledge, so I feel like we can help the younger players because we didn't really have no one that was there before because we had a new coaching staff.

So coming back is going to be easier for us to adjust and just learn. And also, I feel like we just know the conference better, all the games, all the teams are. So it'll be better for us this year. What are y'all's goals for next year?

to win games. Our goal is to show that we're one of the better teams at conference and not just a team that teams could overlook us. Last year, we were kind of overlooked. We were pretty much projected at the bottom of everyone's tournament projections. And that's what we ended up being. So going into next year, this will probably be to the mid or the top of the conference.

And individually, you coming off such a solid year and obviously your role is going to be a little bigger on the team next year. What are some individual goals you have for yourself next year? Individual goals, SEC first team. I just want to be known as the dude that changes the program, really. I'm just going out and just being a leader for the team and just changing the program around.

That's dope. And I know earlier we talked about the pressures of the people in the crowd, but you know, you've been dealing with a certain type of pressure your whole life, obviously your dad being one of the greatest NBA players of all time. And I remember in an interview you said with overtime, you said it's, and you were in high school and you said this, you said it's hard to overcome those pressures being a little bit older. Now, do you feel like you've overcome those pressures or is this something you still deal with?

I feel like it's something I still deal with every day. People talking like, "He's always trying to compare me to my dad," stuff like this. But I just -- I look over the pressure. I don't really try to get into all that and just comparing me and my dad. So I find the pressure always going to be there, but I kind of enjoy it, though, because, like, it gives you something to live up to, something to go out there and try to, like, prove everyone wrong. You know what I mean? -Yeah, it pushes you to a different level, wanting to work harder. -Yeah, definitely.

And I know your dad's influence is on and off the court, but how does his influence affect the way you approach the game of basketball? He always just tells me this good advice, tell me just have fun. Last year during the season, it was hard for me to just have fun because we were losing. And I've never been on a losing team. It was my first time being on a losing team. So he just told me to go out there and play hard and have fun. So he helped me a lot to just get through last year. Yeah, and-

That's honestly every Hooper being a former Hooper myself obviously wasn't in the SEC. I was a Juco God, but you know you were around people your whole life that could give you great advice that we all wish we could have, you know, what's the best advice you've received from an NBA legend that wasn't your dad.

I don't know. I couldn't really point a person or advice. I've gotten so much advice from so many different players, so I couldn't really pick one. Nothing that you, like, stick with? Nah, nothing really, no. I feel you. Okay, so...

I'm not going to keep you too long. And I know these questions were basketball oriented. So I did some digging on your interest in things in your life. And I know your favorite rapper is Lil Wayne. Is he still your favorite rapper? I don't know. I don't know where that was from. It was from Overtime. You and KJ were sitting down and you were like, oh yeah, Lil Wayne is my guy.

Probably at the moment. I feel like my favorite rapper changes all the time. Who's your favorite rapper right now? I'll say probably Lil Baby. Lil Baby? Yeah, Lil Baby. Youngboy's starting to... I used to not like NBA Youngboy, but I'm starting to like his music a little bit more. A lot of my teammates listen to him, so they're kind of putting me on. So what's your go-to, something you listen to every day? What's on your rotation? Probably Lil Baby, Gunna.

Yeah, that's probably them two pretty much. Lil Uzi, I forgot Lil Uzi. He don't want to. Yeah, Lil Uzi. Okay, so if you had to, I'm going to change the question up a little bit since you hit me with the curveball with the Lil Wayne thing. If you had to choose to eliminate one rapper and you can never listen to them again between Gunna, Lil Uzi, and Lil Baby, who would it be? Oh, Gunna. Gunna? Yeah. Why was that so easy?

i don't know i feel like a lot of his songs kind of sound the same and most of his songs i don't know god like little baby more than him but i like louise i listen to him all the time so yeah yeah it's hard okay you like the deluxe better than the original yeah it's pretty yeah after yeah okay and

Who is the toughest player you've had to guard? And I know Hoopers with this question, they got that like, I mean, ain't nobody tough, you know what I'm saying? But who is the toughest player you've had to guard? Like when you saw him checking in the game, like inside, you're like, God damn. All right. Um, talking about had to guard. I don't know. This question is hard for me. Um,

At one point, I used to say he's severe wheeler. He goes to Georgia. I played against him at the top 100 camp. He's like the quickest dude I ever played against. Like, I was at half court, and he was inbounding the ball, beating me to the other court. Like, I was guarding him. But I'll probably say him. He's probably the quickest guy I ever had to guard. But I don't know. I played against a lot of good dudes in the SEC. So I couldn't really say one player. Last question. I need you to be completely honest. Don't ask how I know this. You might know how I know this.

But is it true? Scotty, I need you to be honest. Is it true that you've never been to Walmart? I've been to Walmart. I don't go to stores like that, but I've definitely been to Walmart. I went there.

Yeah, I got my stuff in my dorm. I've been to Walmart. Okay, you got to talk to your boy Dylan. You know where I got it from. I've never been to Walmart. Dylan hit me up. He said, hey, he's never been to Walmart. So I was like, oh, I got to ask him. You got to impress your boy about this. I got to get on with that. All right, bro. I'm going to let you go. I appreciate you doing this quick little interview for me. It was dope.

I'm definitely going to try to go out to Tennessee and catch a game, watch you and Dylan ball out, give y'all some buckets in my off time because I still got it. But you stay safe, bro. I appreciate you coming on. Appreciate you having me, bro. It's cool. Everybody, that is Scottie Pippen. Be sure to subscribe to the channel. Follow me on Instagram at PSH8 and on Twitter at VPSH8. We're almost to 1K. Everybody, this is the You Should Know Podcast. See y'all later.

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