If you like stories about NBA players who defeated the odds, earned their spots in the league, and trusted the process, you’ll like our features on Scotty Pippen Jr. and Elfrid Payton. If you don’t like that, I’m not sure if we’ll be able to trust you anymore. All of that plus the Harbaugh Bowl, a rare UConn basketball loss, and a NHL team who took the shoelace express.

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Today’s Trivia🧠

(answer at the bottom of the Stump!)

On This Day…

🏈 On this day in 1963, Roger Staubach, QB from the Naval Academy, wins the 29th Heisman Trophy Award.

Staubach is the last service academy player to win the award celebrating the best player in all of college football. Staubach went on to serve a volunteer tour of duty in Vietnam with the US Navy before a 11 year NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys.

Today’s Stump Story…

🏀 Living in the Shadow of a Legend: Scotty Pippen Jr.

Basketball is one of those sports where it feels like the offspring of legends always find a way to make some noise in their own regard, and Scotty Pippen Jr is no different.

Chicago Bull legend and NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen was absolutely one of the best players of his era in the NBA. Together, him and Michael Jordan were the centerpieces to one of the greatest stretches of basketball by an individual franchise in NBA history. Pippen’s son, Scotty Pippen Jr., is finally making a name for himself in the NBA as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Pippen had the best game of his young NBA career this past weekend in his first professional game in the city his father won so many games, Chicago. The game was played at the United Center, with his father in attendance, and Pippen Jr. put on a show, racking up a career-high 30 points against the Bulls.

Pippen Jr., an early frontrunner for the Most Improved Player of the Year Award, added 10 assists and made 13 of his 16 shots to help his Grizzlies defeat the Bulls, 142-131.

Pippen Jr. played in 21 games for the Grizzlies last season after being called up from the G League, he even considered going to play overseas before he finally got his first NBA call up. His time in the G League, and silent work have been noticeable throughout the young season.

After Grizzlies star Ja Morant went down with a hip injury, Pippen was forced into the starting lineup. In his first career start with the Grizzlies, he recorded the first triple-double of his career with 11-points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds in a win over the Wizards. Scottie Sr. and Jr. are the first father-son duo to record a triple-double in the NBA play-by-play era.

For someone to have such a large name and be so silent and committed to the process is what has impressed me most about Pippen Jr. There hasn’t been a million headlines about him, “when’s he getting his shot?”, “why aren’t they playing him?”, or any of the other headlines that typically come with this kind of namesake. Pippen has just went about his business, gotten better, and earned his role.

Now in his his third season out of Vanderbilt, I’d be shocked to see Pippen Jr. not on an NBA roster for years to come.

Quick Hitters

🏀 We’ve entered a world where UConn loses a basketball game. The (2) Huskies headed to Hawai’i for the Maui Invitational and took on Memphis in the first round. The Huskies, down 14 with about 4 minutes left, rallied to tie the ball game up and send it to OT. A late Dan Hurley technical foul helped Memphis take an OT lead with less than a minute to go. The Huskies heaved up a three as the clock expired, but it fell short. Memphis 99, Huskies 97.

🏈 The Harbaugh Bowl! The Ravens and their head coach, John Harbaugh, got the win over the Chargers, Jim Harbaugh, on Monday Night Football. The Ravens run game once again was too much for an opponent to handle. Derrick Henry had over a hundred yards on the ground, while Justice Hill added a 51-yard touchdown run to put the icing on the cake. The Ravens move to 8-4, Chargers 7-4.

🏀 Talk about a comeback story, Elfrid Payton is back in the NBA and he put on a show! The former #10 overall pick in the 2014 draft had been out of the NBA since the end of the 2021-22 season. 5 days ago, he signed with the New Orleans Pelicans to make his official return to the NBA. Last night, he made his first start in the NBA in almost three years. Payton dropped 14 points along with 21 assists! The most in a single game this year! Talk about a comeback. This guy is a DUDE!

🏒 The Utah Hockey Club was forced to walk to their game from the team hotel yesterday in Toronto. Multiple streets were closed in Toronto due to their annual Santa Claus Parade. The team bus was apparently in gridlock and according to players and staff, the bus was not moving at all. Talk about a trip on the shoelace express. Utah lost, unfortunately, would’ve been a cooler story if they won.

💯Top Performers:

• 🏀 LaMelo Ball (CHA): 44 points, more than half of teams points!

• 🏀 Kyrie Irving (DAL): 32 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists

• 🏈 Derrick Henry (BAL): 24 carries, 140 yards

• 🏀 Tyrese Haliburton (IND): 34 points, 13 assists, 9 threes!

Stump Top Plays❗️❗️ 

🏈 Double stiff-arm from Derrick Henry

🏀 Jaden Ivey calls game

🏀 A tribute to one of the greats in Maui, Bill Walton

🏈 Jim Harbaugh: Confirmed football guy

💯 Full Scoreboards: MLB, Soccer, PGA, NFL, WNBA, NCAAF, NHL

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

🏈 NCAAF: Toledo vs Akron (7:00 PM), Kent State vs Buffalo (7:00 PM), full schedule 

🏀 NBA: Bulls @ Wizards (7:00 PM), Bucks @ Heat (7:30 PM on TNT), Rockets @ T’Wolves (8:00 PM), Spurs @ Jazz (9:00 PM), Lakers @ Suns (10:00 PM on TNT), full schedule

🏀 CBB (M): San Diego St @vs(14) Creighton (2:00 PM on TBS), Oregon vs (23) Texas A&M (TNT), WKU vs (9) Kentucky (6:30 PM), (7) Houston vs (8) Alabama (8:00 PM), (1) Kansas vs (12) Duke (9:00 PM), (24) Rutgers vs Notre Dame (10:30 PM), full schedule

🏀 CBB (W): (22) Illinois vs Maryland Eastern Shore (2:15 PM), (15) Kentucky vs Arizona State (4:30 PM), (23) Oregon vs South Dakota State (7:00 PM), Kansas City @ (21) Nebraska (8:00 PM), full schedule

🏒 NHL: Vancouver @ Boston (7:00 PM), Utah @ Montreal (7:00 PM), full schedule

⚽️ Soccer: Champions League: Bratislava vs AC Milan (12:45 PM), Sparta Prague vs Atletico (12:45 PM), Barcelona vs Brest (3:00 PM), Bayer Leverkusen vs RB Salzburg (3:00 PM), Bayern Munich vs PSG (3:00 PM), Inter vs RB Leipzig (3:00 PM), Man City vs Rotterdam (3:00 PM), full schedule

Trivia Answer:

D. Kwame Brown! Selected first overall in the 2001 NBA Draft, Kwame Brown was the first high schooler to be selected No. 1 overall. Kwame is widely regarding as one of the biggest draft busts in the history of the NBA.

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