The Bad(dest) Boy

The Bad(dest) Boy

“Rodman doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame because people can’t separate him from the character he plays.”

- Bill Plaschke

Dennis Rodman was born on May 13th, 1961 in Trenton, New Jersey. Much like he did later on in his career, he bounced around from city to city and state to state in his younger years after his father had left his family. It was not until he found refuge in the dangerous outskirts of Dallas, Texas, when he finally felt at home. The unbashful, flamboyant and pop culture magazine headline grabbing “Rodzilla” was merely just a social wallflower uncomfortable in his own body at this time. He was the only male figure in his household and was often ridiculed by his sisters for not even being the best athlete. His sisters, Debra and Kim went on to be All-Americans at Louisiana Tech, all the while Dennis was battling depression after being cut from his high school football and basketball teams.
It was not until he had a growth spurt in high school that he was exposed to the game of basketball once more by future Texas A&M coach, Gary Blair. It was Blair who would play the role of a father figure for Rodman, a role that would also be played by two other coaches in his career: Chuck Daly and Phil Jackson. But Blair was the one that helped mold Dennis Rodman “the basketball player”. Rodman has said that molding him into to a basketball player was no easy task as many times he was unable to even make a lay-up.

But it would not be Rodman’s offensive prowess that garnered the attention of NBA scouts, it was his defensive skills. Being that he only played in The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics as a member of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, he was relatively un-noticed his entire collegiate career even though he averaged 25.7 points and 15.7 rebounds in his three years there and led the conference in rebounding two of those years as well. It took being named the Most Valuable Player of a pre-draft camp to entice one franchise and coach to take a gamble on a relatively lanky and unknown talent. That franchise was the Detroit Pistons and that Coach was Chuck Daly.

In the 1986 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons selected Rodman with the 27^th pick. It was a draft that saw fellow Piston, John Salley get drafted as well. But the 1986 NBA Draft is not remembered for who the Detroit Pistons selected, even though Salley and Rodman would play major roles in back-to-back NBA Championships for Detroit, it is remembered for the career that could have been. As the Boston Celtics a team that locked horns with the Pistons all throughout the 1980’s selected Len Bias with the second overall pick. Len Bias would never play single game for the Celtics as he died less than 48 hours after being drafted. It was later revealed that Bias had a secret drug addiction to cocaine. In Rodman’s case, his alcohol and drug addictions later on in his life were far from secret.

But long before Rodman’s days of wearing wedding dresses and abusing drugs and alcohol, he was a defensive spark-plug for the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons. A team led by Chuck Daly and future Hall of Famer’s, Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. Rodman was not shy in being one of the “baddest boys.” The Pistons earned this moniker through their hard nosed style of play. They could beat you on the scoreboard on any given night and if they could not accomplish that, well, they could just beat you up. The Bad Boys were revered and loved in Detroit and loathed and hated everywhere else. What made the team so dynamic was the fact that Chuck Daly was often revered for being one of the nicest guys in basketball. Charles Barkley once said of the Bad Boys, "Here's what I always thought about Chuck. He was a really good dude. I can't believe he coached those pricks in Detroit."

Many players on that team received nicknames. Vinnie Johnson was called “the Microwave” because he ate up minutes off of the bench; Adrian Dantley was referred to as “the Teacher” as he took many young Pistons under his wing. John Salley was called “the Spider” for his defensive play. Dennis Rodman was no different, he received his nickname for his defensive style of play and how he always seemed to come down with the rebound in crowds of players, so he was appropriately referred to as “the Worm”.

Rodman often wormed his was into the headlines of sports papers, as he was vocal against one of the team’s biggest rivals, the Boston Celtics. Rodman often called out one person in particular, Larry Bird. He said of Bird, “Bird is overrated in a lot of areas. Why does he get so much publicity? Because he's white. You never hear about a black player being the greatest." Rodman consistently flew under the radar for the Pistons. He always showed up big when he had to. He won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in back-to-back years as the Pistons had just won back-to-back championships. During the 1990–1991 season, the NBA heralded him as a defender who "could shut down any opposing player, from point guard to center." In the 1991-1992 season he collected 1,530 rebounds, which helped him surpass Wilt Chamberlin as the single season rebound record holder. He also won his first of seven consecutive rebounding crowns that year.

Then only a year removed from his greatest season, his world came crashing down. Chuck Daly, a man that Rodman loved and revered, and who once took Rodman into his office and said, “You know, Dennis, even though you play for me, I just love you like my son. I’m not taking any charity to you or stuff like that; you just have a special place for me.” resigned as head coach of the Pistons and this left Rodman reeling, it even led him to the brink of suicide. Rodman later revealed in his autobiography As Bad as I Wanna Be, why he chose not to kill himself. Rodman wrote, “I'm going to live my life the way I want to live it and be happy doing it.' At that moment I turned my whole life around. I killed the person I didn't want to be." This led to him to demanding a trade. He was then traded to the San Antonio Spurs where he played along side David Robinson, a player highly regarded as one of the best big men of his era. While in San Antonio, Rodman’s demeanor changed and so did his hairstyles.

From San Antonio he went to the Chicago Bulls. It was at this time that “the Worm” had died and “Rodzilla” was born. Rodman found himself playing alongside the greatest to ever play the game, Michael Jordan and with arguably the best supporting player ever, Scottie Pippen. He was also coached by the great Phil Jackson. The irony of Rodman playing for the Bulls was that he not even ten years removed from being in a bitter rivalry with them as a member of the Pistons. Rodman loathed at the Bulls whilst playing in Detroit, but he soon got acclimated to playing with Jordan and Pippen. Rodman stated that even though all three of them had drastically different personalities, they all managed to balance each other out on the court. He said of his relationship with Jordan and Pippen:

"On the court, me and Michael are pretty calm and we can handle conversation. But as far as our lives go, I think he is moving in one direction and I'm going in the other. I mean, he's goin' north, I'm goin' south. And then you've got Scottie Pippen right in the middle. He's sort of the equator."

It was also around this time that Rodman was grabbing tabloid headlines instead of sports headlines. He grabbed attention for wearing a wedding dress to a book signing, stomping on a camera man during a game, his romantic fling with Madonna, his flamboyant hairstyles and his venturing into professional wrestling with the aid of Hulk Hogan. Rodman was actually fined by the Chicago Bulls, because he took part in a wrestling event for World Championship Wrestling during the NBA Finals. In doing so, he was fined twenty-thousand dollars by the Bulls. Sources say his pay day for the wrestling event was over one hundred-thousand dollars.

Many argued that his off the court issues over shadowed his play on the court. Sportswriter Tom Ziller wrote that the main problem with Rodman was that he was in the public light too much, he said, “This is the central conflict in Rodman's career as a whole: he was the least glamorous star player on the court, and made up for it by being comically glamorous off the court.” But nevertheless, he still dominated the boards and grabbed rebounds. NBA coaching great, and then Seattle Supersonics coach, George Karl even said this of Rodman’s 1996 NBA Finals performance, "As you evaluate the series, Dennis Rodman won two basketball games. We controlled Dennis Rodman for four games. But Game 2 and tonight, he was the reason they were successful." Even amidst all his off of the court issues, Rodman was still a defensive juggernaut.

Michael Jordan retired after the 1998 season, and the Bulls began a rebuilding phase. Pippen and Rodman were the first to go after Jordan. Rodman found himself now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, a team he also had a history with all the way back to his times with the Pistons. By this time his erratic behavior finally caught up to him. He only played 23 games with the Lakers and he was waived and then picked up by his adopted home state’s Dallas Mavericks, he soon wore out his welcome and was released by them as well. Steve Nash said Rodman's time as a Maverick, “Rodman never wanted to be [a Maverick]" and therefore was unmotivated.”

Sadly, that is how the masses view Rodman, an unmotivated and erratic basketball player. But is the furthest thing from the truth possible. For seven straight years he led the league in rebounding, he set multiple regular season and post season rebounding records and he re-enforced the saying that “offense wins you games and defense wins you championships.” Many view Rodman as a the reason why a player like Ron Artest is allowed to be in the league, a kind  player who is volatile on and off of the court, and who is more of a goon than a ball player. But the fact of the matter is Rodman was a great ball player and never really a goon. To speak on the character of Dennis Rodman, you need not look any further than when he was asked to reflect on his colorful career. Rodman said, “People ask if I have any regrets as a basketball player, I have one regret: I wish I was a better father.”

Rodman was always an underdog and was always misunderstood. He never really hung around the big name players off of the court. He hung around with guys like Jack Haley, a virtually unknown journeyman and Bryne Rich, a player whom he bonded with in his teenage years and a person who brought Rodman into his family and helped give him of his the only stable families he has ever had. Rodman was a work horse on the court. He never got his just due and was always categorized as “one dimensional” and not deserving of the Hall of Fame. But in 2011, Rodman finally got his recognition and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In his speech he spoke of his relationships with his coaches and father figures, Phil Jackson and Chuck Daly. Rodman mentioned that Jackson was the only man to ever cry for him. And when he was asked about the late Chuck Daly not being at his induction speech, Rodman said, "I just wish Chuck was still here period. He was a great guy." Even with his induction into the Hall of Fame, the Detroit Pistons are the only teams to retire his number. At his number retirement ceremony during his speech, he broke down and said, "I don't deserve to have [the number] retired," because there "was so much else I should have done" in Detroit.” But as they say the “ball don’t lie” and neither do his stats. Sure, his falling out with Detroit was not the greatest, but that was his first NBA home and that is where “the Worm” was born. His number should hang high above the hardwood floor of the Palace of Auburn Hills, where is now immortalized with his fellow Bad Boys and the man he viewed as his father, Chuck Daly.

Even then people still had their doubts about Rodman’s legitimacy as being considered a “legend”. Jack McCallum said, “Rodman himself was surprised that the Pistons retired his jersey last Friday, since he played a supporting role… The Hall of Fame is not for supporting players.” The fact of matter is though; Rodman was not only just a supporting player. He was a key player on the teams he was on, especially when it came to the back-to-back championships of the Detroit Pistons or adding to the litany of championships won by the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.

Rodman came to popularity in the 1990s. A time where grunge music had taken over and bands like Pearl Jam changed the way how others viewed music. At the same time, Rodman was changing the way how people should view basketball. Coincidentally, Rodman was great friends with Pearl Jam lead singer, Eddie Vedder. All the members of Pearl Jam were even known to wear Rodman’s various jerseys on stage. But most importantly, they bonded through each other’s unique way of living. Pearl Jam scoffed at mainstream notoriety and so did Rodman. He once said this of his earnings playing basketball: “I didn’t play the game for the money. I didn’t play the game to be famous. What you see here is an illusion: that I love to be an individual that is very colorful.”

Rodman is a man who even though is in the Hall of Fame still has detractors. Sports columnist Bill Plaschke wrote after Rodman’s induction, “Rodman doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame because people can’t separate him from the character he plays.” But there really never was a Dennis Rodman “character.” Under the piercings, rainbow colored hair, wedding veils and tattooed exterior, Dennis Rodman was always Dennis Rodman.

In my opinion Tom Ziller put Rodman’s legitimacy as a Hall of Famer and a legend in the perfect context. He said:

“If Steve Nash can win two MVPs playing on one side of the ball, Rodman belongs in the Hall. To argue otherwise is to unfairly diminish the importance of defense and rebounding. It's time to stop paying lip service to those parts of the game, and inducting Rodman is a great way to do it.”

That is a perfect point. If we live a day and age where Steve Nash is heralded as one of the best basketball players in the NBA even though statistically, he only plays one side of the ball (offense) and he won two MVP’s in doing so, why can’t Rodman be recognized and heralded equally for his work on defense.

Even with the thousands upon thousands of opinions that people have on him, Rodman never was one to care about what people thought of him. He just played the game how he wanted to play it: Fast and Hard. He was as bad as he wanted to be and when push came to shove, he never backed down and shied away from what made him happy, even if that meant ridicule and judgment. He played in era with Bird, Magic, Malone, Jordan, Barkley and Robinson. On some nights he even played better than them and embarrassed them. And if you did not like it, well, then as Eddie Vedder wrote in one of his songs, “This is not for you. Oh, this is not for you...yeah, you...”

Just some videos and music that helped me with the essay and I felt fit Rodman's personality: