He should know — ba dum bump!

But let’s get serious: Scottie Pippen took a break from hosting cheerleading contests in China to tell the Orlando Sentinel the following…

“He’s a very special player but I don’t think he’s going to win a championship until he gets another superstar to play alongside of him,” Pippen said recently while visiting Orlando. “A guy that’s very consistent and has that drive, that’s what it’s going to take. I don’t think that he can carry a team to a championship.”

“He’s not that great of a scorer, he’s not a good shooter and he’s not a good foul shooter. So in the latter parts of the game, as big as he is and as much athleticism as he has, that becomes very small when the game gets into crunch time. He’s not the type of player that can dominate a game in the fourth quarter.”

Pippen is entitled to his opinion, but let’s not forget that Dwight Howard led the Magic to a Finals appearance (beating a very good Cavs team along the way) at the age of 23. Orlando lost 4-1, but Game 2 went into overtime (after Courtney Lee just missed a layup that would have won the game), so with a little luck, the Magic would have headed home with the series tied, 1-1.

Howard is just 24 now, and while his post game is certainly not polished, it is improving. He has developed a baby hook with both hands to go along with his signature power game. And let’s not forget that both Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal didn’t win an NBA title until the age of 27, so it took both players a few years to figure things out.

Howard should be able to develop a lot in three years, regardless of Pippen’s opinion on the current state of his game. These days, it takes two superstars (or one superstar and two stars) to win a title: Kobe/Gasol, Boston’s Big Three, Duncan/Parker/Ginobili, Wade/Shaq, Shaq/Kobe, Jordan/Pippen, Olajuwon/Drexler. The only recent champions not listed there are the ’04 Pistons (superior chemistry and balance) and the ’94 Rockets (dominant big man surrounded by shooters).

Would another superstar help? Sure. Is it an absolute necessity? History has proven that it isn’t, assuming Howard continues to develop.

Photo from fOTOGLIF