Under sunny skies and 88 degree temperatures, Scottie Pippen paused Wednesday morning between holes of golf near his summer home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to talk about the bitter and the sweet of returning to the Bulls, the cradle of his 16-year NBA career.

It was the first interview the seven-time All-Star had granted since he signed a two-year, $10 million free-agent contract a month ago to rejoin the team for which he played his first 11 seasons and helped lead to six NBA championships.

Pippen, 37, decided not to have a news conference after he signed with the Bulls, preferring to keep a low profile. The 6-7 small forward knew he would be asked to rehash some of the controversial episodes of his Bulls career, including his long-running feud with former Bulls operations chief Jerry Krause and his refusal to take the court for the final 1.8 seconds of a 1994 playoff game. Pippen knows there are those who won't welcome him back.

The Bulls feel Pippen's pluses outweigh any possible negatives.

''Scottie's going to be great for our team, and we're simply glad to have him back,'' general manager John Paxson said. ''I've said all along that we needed some veteran leadership maybe more than anything else. Scottie would bring that. He'd bring professionalism ... and our young people need to see that model every day.''

Here are some of the thoughts and feelings that Pippen shared during the interview: