Antron Pippen, the eldest son of Scottie Pippen and former player, is dead, the great NBA player said Monday.
Pippen shared the news in an Instagram post accompanied by several photos of the two over the years.
“We both shared a love for basketball and had countless conversations about the game,” Pippen wrote. “Antron suffered from chronic asthma and, if he hadn’t had it, I think he would have made it to the NBA. He never left, but Antron stayed positive and worked hard, and I’m proud of the man who converted “.
Antron Pippen was 33 years old. No cause of death was reported.
Pippen’s career in high school was very chronic and at the same time he was among the top 100 possible in his age level. 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 tried to show people 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 also participated 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,” he tweeted at South Georgia Tech’s athletic department.
Scottie Pippen, who won six championships with the Chicago Bulls, had eight children. Daughter Tyler died nine days after her birth, in 1994.
Antron was the only child from his first marriage, to Karen McCollum.
“Please keep her mother, Karen, and all her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers,” Pippen wrote. “A kind heart and a beautiful soul are gone too soon. I love you, son, calm down until we meet again.”
Information from the Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.