Scottie Pippen knows a little something about playing with an all-time great, so when he speaks on Kyrie Irving's situation with the Cleveland Cavaliers, it might be a good idea to listen.

Pippen was on the incredible Bulls teams of the 1990s with Michael Jordan, helping Chicago win six NBA titles while establishing himself as a Hall of Famer.

LeBron James and Irving aren't quite the same duo as Jordan-Pippen, but there are at least enough similarities for Pippen to relate to Irving's situation and defend him on ESPN's "The Jump".

"I am a very strong supporter of what he's doing because I've watched what has happened to him in his career and how things went for him in Cleveland, and I think he's at a superstar level now that he can control his own destiny. A lot of players in our game have that opportunity and they don't take advantage of it. I think it's the perfect timing, Cleveland didn't win a championship, they were right there, but there's been a lot of things going on within that organization. LeBron doesn't give those guys the security that they need, that the superstar is gonna be there and he's gonna support us and I see Kyrie looking at the opportunity to run before LeBron runs, because there's a lot of chatter out there that LeBron's coming to play with the Lakers."  

Pippen went on to say what his situation would have been like had he not stayed with Jordan and mentioned how he would have won fewer championships. Of course, Jordan never left Chicago -- until he came out of retirement to play with the Washington Wizards in 2001 -- while there are constant rumors that James might leave Cleveland a second time.

With everything going on in Cleveland it's hard to not see why Irving wouldn't at least consider a trade. It's surprising he would choose to do so with James still around, but like Pippen said he's in control of his own destiny at the moment. Not every player uses that opportunity, but Irving has chosen to.