Signing Dennis Rodman to an NBA team came with its own burden of dealing with his countless off-court shenanigans and chaotic presence in the team. But franchises were willing to deal with all of that after calculating the risk-reward ratio of his impact on the court, at least in the prime of his career. However, things started to change as Rodman neared the dusk of his eventful career. In fact, the seven-time Rebounding champion’s $441,176 contract was waived by the Dallas Mavericks in 2000, less than a month after his signing, following a series of PR disasters which included calling out new Mavs owner Mark Cuban. Three years after that, Rodman would be entangled in another PR disaster, only to be saved by the harsh words of then NBA Commissioner David Stern.
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Rodman didn’t have a very smooth relationship with David Stern. The Worm was not very subtle in expressing the belief repeatedly that the league was out to get him. He even accused Commissioner Stern of turning his back against the ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons because their playing style wasn’t lucrative per se in a league that saw Michael Jordan as a money-making machine. In addition, his off-court antics posed a massive PR problem for the NBA. Therefore, it is safe to say that Stern wasn’t the biggest Dennis Rodman fan out there. However, he did end up saving Rodman from a PR nightmare involving ESPN, the Bulls legend once wrote in his book.
David Stern’s comments saved Dennis Rodman from public embarrassment
Rodman’s NBA career was pretty much over after he was kicked out of the Dallas Mavericks in his late thirties following a one-month stint in 2000. However, his extravagant lifestyle required a high-profile salary to sustain itself. As a result, Rodman ventured out in a lot of different avenues that not always produced the best outcomes for him.
A good example was the 2003 show Rodman on the Rebound, produced by ESPN. In retrospect, Rodman admitted the show to be his rock bottom in front of a camera in his 2005 book I Should Be Dead by Now. However, Stern dispensed some harsh public comments on the show, which prompted the showrunners to panic and relegate the production to an obscure time slot. Rodman writes in his book:
“When Stern heard that ESPN was producing Rodman on the Rebound, he got his panties in a wad and started knocking the show in the newspapers, saying it wasn’t one of ESPN’s “strongest moments,” or some sh*t like that. Not that he’d seen the show, you understand. Well, the guys at ESPN freaked out—Stern is a powerful dude—and rescheduled the series so it wouldn’t run in primetime.”
“It ended up airing at like 1:00 a.m. in New York and 11:00 p.m. in L.A., next to nobody saw it. On the record, we were jumping Stern’s a** for censorship and sh*t, but when the cameras were off, we were secretly whoopin’ it up. I mean, Stern himself couldn’t have produced a show that made me look any worse than Rodman on the Rebound—my a** hits rock bottom on camera—and, thanks to him, nobody sees it.”
Rodman was kicked out of the Mavericks for his comments on Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban decided to show his support to Rodman after joining as the new owner. Despite Dennis the Menace’s numerous troubles outside the hardwood, Cuban granted him the leeway to skip practices and show up late to games. The billionaire even let him stay in one of his guest houses in Dallas before the NBA intervened in the move.
But Rodman made some comments on Cuban’s place in the team as an owner, which was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The five-time NBA champion said that Cuban should hire better personnel to improve the roster instead of hanging around with the team like he’s a coach. The Mavs announced Rodman’s departure soon after the comments surfaced in the media.
