Dennis Rodman Believed He Was Returning To The NBA At Age 42, Thanks To Tex Winter

At the peak of his success, Dennis Rodman was deep into all the things an athlete should stay away from, drinking, smoking, partying, etc. After a dream run with the Bulls until 1998, he joined the Lakers the following year for a short stint and then went to the Mavericks in 2000, where he played 12 games before disappearing from the limelight.

‘The Worm’ still wanted to hold on to the dream of an NBA comeback. Jeff Pearlman, in his book titled ‘Three-Ring Circus’ revealed one such instance from Rodman‘s life. When Rodman was next seen with the Long Beach Jam in 2003. At that time, Phil Jackson had made it clear to the media that they were not pursuing him.

When Tex Winter heard that the Worm was playing for Long Beach Jam, he went to see the two-time DPOY winner in action, as a fan. Pearlman wrote about how the Bulls legend misinterpreted Tex Winter’s compassionate words as a promise for an NBA comeback.

“Winter rose from his seat at halftime to use the bathroom and somehow found himself inside the Jam locker room, where Rodman was sitting alone, head in hands, crying. He hadn’t played organized basketball in nearly three years, and an underwhelming first-half performance left him irrational. Winter reassured him the talent was still there—that he just needed to get back into the groove.”

Even though Tex was simply trying to be nice to Rodman for knowing him for years, ‘The Worm’ mistook his words for a promise that was never made. Following their conversation, Rodman’s team issued a press release.

“Tex Winter told Dennis Rodman that he needs another week or two to be able to play at the level he is used to playing and will need a few weeks before he is ready to play in the NBA again.”

Unfortunately, ‘Dennis the Menace’ couldn’t make a comeback and his 12-game stint with the Mavericks marked the end of his NBA career. Though he continued to play overseas, Rodman eventually gave up hope in 2006 and retired.