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Dennis Rodman – Beyond The Glory
Dennis Rodman played for the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed “The Worm” and was known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities.
Rodman played at the small forward position in his early years before becoming a power forward. He earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors seven times and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award twice. He also led the NBA in rebounds per game for a record seven consecutive years and won five NBA championships. His biography at NBA.com states that he is “arguably the best rebounding forward in NBA history.” On April 1, 2011, the Pistons retired Rodman’s No. 10 jersey, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later that year.
Dennis Rodman’s father has at least 26 kids (according to Dennis, 47) and was never a part of his life. His mother worked odd jobs. He was working as a janitor in an airport after graduating high school until he had a growth spurt and started playing ball for a community college. He flunked out after one semester of averaging 18 and 13, transferred to an NAIA school, and averaged 26 and 16 in three seasons.
During this time he was taken in by a rural family in Oklahoma and lived and worked on their farm along with the parents and children.
He was drafted by the Pistons and was found asleep in a car holding a shotgun in the Pistons arena parking lot in 1993, after six seasons with the team. He had intended to kill himself. He went on to become arguably the greatest defender and rebounder of the modern era, at only 6’7″, guarding everyone from Shaq to MJ.
Dennis famously wore a wedding dress to promote his 1996 autobiography ‘Bad As I Wanna Be’. Rodman pursued a high-profile affair with singer Madonna and was briefly married to actress Carmen Electra.
Apart from basketball, Rodman is a retired part-time professional wrestler and actor. He was a member of the nWo and fought alongside Hulk Hogan at two Bash at the Beach events. He had his own TV show The Rodman World Tour, and had lead roles in the action films Simon Sez and Double Team alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme. Both films were critically panned, with the latter earning Rodman a triple Razzie Award. He appeared in several reality TV series and was the winner of the $222,000 main prize of the 2004 edition of Celebrity Mole. Rodman won the first ever Celebrity Championship Wrestling tournament.
Check out the Documentary on the NBA’s baddest boy, infamous Dennis Rodman: Beyond the Glory.
