The U.S. Supreme Court declined to revive a defamation lawsuit brought by NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen against numerous media outlets that reported at one time that he had filed for bankruptcy.
The justices let stand a lower court's decision to throw out the defamation suit, which was confirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals last August.
The former Chicago Bulls great sued media giants CBS, Comcast, and others in 2011 for what the lawsuit called "malicious libel" in saying that the Pippen had filed for bankruptcy and the reports ruined his reputation,
according to Crain's Chicago Business. He was seeking $1 million from each defendant, plus damage compensation and court costs.
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The lawsuit charged that the media outlets engaged in "sloppy conduct, in light of the previous description of Scottie, was especially egregious in view of the fact that a mere click of the mouse for bankruptcies in Scottie's home state would have illustrated that he never filed a bankruptcy."
According to The Associated Press, a lower court ruled that Pippen could not prove actual malice or that the outlets knew the information was false or acted in reckless disregard for the truth. Pippen charged, though, that the companies acted with malice because they refused to correct or remove the false reports from several websites after being alerted to the error.
Other defendants in Pippen's original lawsuit, according to Crain's, were Arizona State University; Yakezie Network and One Money Design site; Mint Software Inc.; financial research firm Investing Answers; Sportsreport360.com; HoopsVibe.com owner Evolve Media Corp., and the University of Tampa's Minaret Online newspaper.
Pippen retired from the NBA in 2004 as one of the league's most decorated players, winning six league titles with the Bulls and Michael Jordan. He was selected one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history in 1996 and a member of the original U.S. Olympic "Dream Team" in 1992.
He is one of only four players in NBA history to lead his team in all major statistical categories (points, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks) when he led the Bulls in 1995. He also played in Houston and Portland before retiring.
Pippen was named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
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