Retired NBA star Scottie "No Tippen" Pippen was questioned by police Monday afternoon in the assault of a man outside a Malibu restaurant on Sunday night.
TMZ.com broke the story of the fight, which occurred outside Nobu in Malibu, Calif., and said Pippen allegedly beat a man, knocked him out, and then kicked him while he was on the ground. The basketball legend had been a suspect in the assault, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced, but later was questioned and released without being charged.
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Witnesses said the victim approached Pippen for an autograph, Pippen said no, something was said, and the fight started. A family member said the 50-year-old alleged victim was released from the hospital with broken teeth, back and head injuries and a swollen mouth, TMZ reported.
Pippen was not at the scene when police arrived. His attorney refused to comment on the case.
ESPN reported that Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the sheriff’s department, said there was an argument between Pippen and the man, who has not been identified.
“Right now it’s under investigation,” Whitmore told ESPN. “We have to interview everybody to find out what happened.”
Pippen won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls, was a gold medal Olympian and has made the news in the last few years for supposedly losing much of the million-dollar fortune he acquired during his career.
He’s well-known for purchasing a Gulfstream jet in 2002, which subsequently was unable to fly because of a missed inspection that required $1 million worth of work to be done to the plane.
Pippen sued the lawyers who handled the paperwork because they failed to discern information about the missed inspection, and won $2 million.
While many on social media sent the story around about Pippen’s arrest, few were commenting. @NotSportsCenter did take the opportunity to take a stab at the Bulls’ Derrick Rose.
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