He doesn't demand the ball. He knows his role and performs it to absolute historic perfection. The next time you think about Rodman and all that was unorthodox, reminisce also on the things that made him the best role player of all-time. Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox!
Your sports. Join Newsletter. Bryne was suffering deeply from the consequences of an accident that had occurred while he was hunting—his gun had discharged while he was reloading, killing his best friend. Rodman helped Bryne talk through his pain, and in return Bryne introduced Rodman to the Rich family, who practically adopted the soft-spoken college player.
Rodman moved in with the Rich family, who offered emotional support and encouragement as his basketball career caught fire. Rodman established himself as a solid rebounder and important defensive cog in the Pistons lineup, earning NBA Defensive Player of the Year honors in both and He had a good relationship with his teammates and coach Daly, and by all reports he was infuriated when some of his friends got traded and Daly left the team.
It was a family to him, and when it disintegrated around him, it was tough for him to deal with. There he helped the Spurs to advance to the playoffs by leading the league in rebounding in , , and he had been top rebounder with the Pistons in as well.
It was also in San Antonio that Rodman began coloring his hair the many shades that have made him a star beyond the bounds of basketball. The painful process took up to three hours and carried the threat of future baldness. Rodman suggested that if his hair falls out, he would just tattoo his head. With the Spurs, Rodman established himself as a rebounding specialist on a par with the likes of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain—both of whom were centers, far taller and heavier than Rodman.
In fact, at six-foot-eight and pounds, Rodman is definitely short and slight for his specialty. He can often anticipate how a ball will behave when it fails to fall through the basket—and he responds accordingly. A lot of work is done before you ever even jump.
It was during his tenure with the Spurs that Rodman met singer-actress Madonna on a photo shoot. Dennis Rodman averaged 9. Subscribe to Stathead , the set of tools used by the pros, to unearth this and other interesting factoids. Become a Stathead. Javascript is required for the selection of a player.
Choice is:. Powered by. Totals Bold indicates league leader. Nonetheless, we can present Triple-Doubles since when rebounds became an official statistic. A small number may yet be unaccounted for but we're confident in the completeness of the list.
Advanced Bold indicates league leader. Multiply by 2. Playoffs Series. College Stats underline indicates incomplete record. Appearances on Leaderboards, Awards, and Honors. More Rodman Pages. Full Site Menu Return to Top. They were poor, his mother worked multiple jobs to support them, and he was left to fend for himself, bullied by the boys in the neighborhood. He was lonely and frightened of what the future held.
Those were my options. His sisters excelled as basketball stars while he foundered, cut from the high school football team and overlooked as a basketball prospect. When he graduated, Shirley laid down an ultimatum: Find a job -- or a new place to live. I had, like, a garbage bag full of clothes. I left the house and I just sat on the steps down at the apartment complex with nowhere to go. I went into my friend's house. He said, 'You can stay in the backyard, on the couch.
Or I go to the 7-Eleven, try to fold boxes, throw bottles away, stuff like that, for five bucks a day. This was his existence, on and off, for nearly two years. He played basketball all day, growing so fast his clothes ripped apart. He bummed hand-me-downs from friends, found comfort as an interloper in their families. I never cried about my sisters and my mother, my so-called father or any one of my relatives I never knew about. I was so used to living life this way.
His growth spurt transformed him from a scrawny 5-foot-6 wannabe to a 6-foot-8 gazelle who could dunk. He landed in a summer league and was eventually discovered by Southeast Oklahoma, where he became a three-time All-American despite persistent racial slurs in a community that was hesitant to embrace an African-American supernova.
He was an improbable success story, but it was complicated, always complicated, because those emotions were so close to the surface. By the time he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the 27th pick of the draft, he was estranged from his mother. His father was forgotten, an apparition, until one night in , when Rodman was playing for the Chicago Bulls. Rodman says Philander appeared at the practice facility before a shootaround on game day.
I need to talk to you. Rodman assumed the man was an imposter; he was growing accustomed to people hustling him for money. He didn't think any more about it until midway through the game, in the middle of a timeout, when he noticed a commotion in the stands. He's signing autographs, doing interviews. And I was his first one. Somebody told me that. I'm like, 'Whatever. It's a little late. The 30 for 30 documentary, which includes interviews with many of his family members, runs a clip of Rodman at his Hall of Fame induction speech in which, halting to maintain his composure, Rodman apologizes to his children for not being there for them.
I love my kids. I've had plenty. Alcohol being one of them -- everyone knows that. But I think the only major demon I have right now is trying to convince myself that I am a good dad. That's the worst one for me.
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