This season has had a little bit of everything for the Portland Trail Blazers.

And when Scottie Pippen added a little more controversy to the mix in comments he made in Saturday's Portland Tribune, it didn't seem too surprising.

Touching on numerous issues, Pippen told the newspaper that he didn't like how his entire team was being branded as the "Jail Blazers" because of a few players' actions.

"I hope it doesn't reflect on me (personally), yet we are all members of a team," Pippen told the Tribune. "It looks bad when players are still getting caught up in the same old bull … You are being watched. You are an icon in this community. People don't stand for that kind of behavior, and they shouldn't. You get into your fancy-ass car and start flying down the highway at those kind of speeds.

"People see us as a group and it's like, oh man, those drug heads … "

The road has been tough lately for Pippen, who is rehabbing his left knee after arthroscopic surgery on March 19. Pippen had hoped to return next Wednesday against San Antonio, but it may be a little longer.

And at 37, Pippen will be a free agent after this season and there is an uncertainty as to where he will land.

Then, there is the drama surrounding his current team in Portland, an on-going saga sparked by Pippen's criticism of Blazers' management, comments he doesn't regret. Pippen told the newspaper that he thinks things have not changed.

"(Blazers general manager Bob Whitsitt) has no attentiveness to this team," Pippen told the Tribune. "He doesn't know what he brought in, how it is responding, what the practice habits are like, nothing."

Pippen also criticized Whitsitt's team moves after he brought the forward to Portland four years ago.

"(Whitsitt) said he had all these warriors, and we were going to get all this stuff accomplished," Pippen told the newspaper. "I was thinking I was coming in to play with all these guys. He made the trade to bring me here, and he dismantled the team the year after.

"That is the one thing I regret about coming to Portland, when he did that. We had nice players here. But I guess he has always done that. Bob is always going on trading sprees."

Portland has clinched its spot in the postseason and currently sits fourth overall in the Western Conference. But Pippen said that if the Trail Blazers want a shot at the title, they can't go through Los Angeles (the Lakers are currently sixth in the West).

"If we can finish at the seed we're at now, we will be in a great position," Pippen told the newspaper. "Then it's about us."