Pippen Out 2 Months Of Season; Rodman To Get 1-Year Deal

On the same day that the Chicago Bulls and Dennis Rodman came to an agreement on a one-year contract, the Bulls announced that Scottie Pippen is expected to miss at least the first two months of the season following foot surgery.

The Bulls said Tuesday that their star forward had an outpatient operation Monday in New York.

Pippen, who did not wish to discuss the surgery, injured the soft tissue of his left foot last season during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against Miami.

Rest was prescribed for the foot this summer, but it began hurting Pippen again.

Without Pippen, the Bulls chances of winning a lot of early games and getting in position to have the league’s best record for a third straight season could be in jeopardy. That best record has secured a home-court advantage throughout the playoffs the last two seasons in which the Bulls won NBA titles.

The contract agreed to by Rodman has a base salary that is “considerably more” than $2.5 million, said Dwight Manley, Rodman’s agent.

Rodman, 36, has won six straight rebounding titles. The Bulls hope to have Rodman in camp by Friday.

The Seattle SuperSonics waived center Mark Blount and forward Derrick Battie, five days after signing both players.

Blount, 21, was a second-round pick of the Sonics this year, taken 55th overall as a sophomore out of the University of Pittsburgh.

The 23-year-old Battie, out of Temple, played in Italy last year.

Muggsy Bogues rejoined the Charlotte Hornets after tests showed he still has damage in his left knee but that it has not gotten significantly worse. Bogues practiced with the Hornets on Tuesday for the first time since they opened training camp.

A man who threatened to blow up the Delta Center in Salt Lake City unless Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller gave him $150,000 pleaded guilty to sending a threatening communication through the U.S. mail. Richard Lewis Christiansen, 43, could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and fined $250,000.