NBA Legend Scottie Pippen's Son Dead at 33
NBA legend Scottie Pippen's firstborn son, Antron, has passed away at the age of 33. In a teary social media post the star and father of eight and Chicago resident penned, "I'm heartbroken to share that yesterday, I said goodbye to my firstborn son Antron. The two of us shared a love for basketball and we had countless conversations about the game."
The post, which has garnered over 300,000 likes and thousands of heartfelt comments in a matter of hours, is a tribute to Scottie's devotion to his children.
Antron was the firstborn son of the Pippen children, a child shared with Karen McCollum, who was Scottie's wife from 1988 till 1990 when they went their separate ways. Antron was born in 1987, and went on to play high-level basketball despite his chronic asthma condition. He even had a stint playing for Texas A&M International University in the early 2000s before moving onto a stint at South Georgia Technical College.
Scottie didn't share Antron's cause of death, which left throngs of internet supporters wondering if he had COVID-19 or another illness that might have aggravated his severe asthma.
"We're going to miss you, Antron, asthma is a beast," wrote one fan and supporter, while another replied, "This is why you need that inhaler. What happened? Only COVID could do this if he had asthma."
Pippen, one of the greatest basketball forwards of all time and one of only four Chicago Bulls players ever to have their jersey retired, offered a final message online for his son. “A kind heart and beautiful soul gone way too soon," it reads. "I love you, son, rest easy until we meet again.”
Larsen Pippen, a one-time step mother for Antron, took to her Instagram stories to offer a photo of the now-deceased 33 year old with her own three sons, his brothers, in memoriam. "Some truths in life are hard to accept," she wrote. "Your memories will never be forgotten! They will always remain with us forever. You are forever in our hearts, we love u and will miss you always RIP Antron." Larsa and Scottie, who also share a 12 year old daughter, Sophia, separated in 2015 when the 55 year old basketball Hall of Famer filed for divorce after accusing the beauty of extra-marital affairs. They briefly reconciled before deciding yet again to move forward with their divorce in 2018, which has yet to be finalized.
Scottie Pippen has six surviving children including Scotty Jr., 20; Preston, 19; Justin, 16; and Sophia, 13 with ex-wife Larsa Pippen; as well as Taylor, 26, whose mother is Scottie Pippen’s ex-girlfriend Sonya Roby; and Sierra, 26, with ex-fiancée Yvette DeLeon, according to Entertainment Tonight.