Antron Pippen, Scottie Pippen’s eldest child and former player himself, has died, the great NBA said on Monday.
Pippen shared the news in a post on Instagram accompanied by several photos of the two over the years.
“I shared my love for basketball and had countless conversations about the game,” Pippen wrote. “Antron suffered from chronic asthma and if he hadn’t, I really think he would have reached the NBA. He never let him down, though – Antron stayed positive and worked hard, and I’m so proud of the man he became. “
Antron Pippen was 33 years old. No cause of death was reported.
Antron Pippen’s high school career was well chronicled and he was once listed among the top 100 prospects at his age. He once acknowledged that sharing the last name of a six-time NBA champion generated additional attention.
“I’m used to expectations,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a high school player in 2006. “When I was younger, it bothered me. I was trying to prove to people that I could play. I’m very proud of my father. But I can only be myself. ”
Pippen, a 6-foot-2 goalie, played at South Georgia Technical College and appeared in three games in the 2008-09 season for Texas A & M-International.
“The Jets family was saddened to learn of the death of one of our former players, Antron Pippen,” the South Georgia sports department posted on Twitter.
Scottie Pippen, who won six Chicago Bulls championships, had eight children. Daughter Tyler died nine days after her birth in 1994.
Antron was the only child in his first marriage to Karen McCollum.
“Please keep his mother, Karen, and all his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers,” Pippen wrote. “A good heart and a beautiful soul left too soon. I love you, son, stay easy until we meet again.”
Information from the Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.