Accused of Being Racist Towards Larry Bird, 6FT 8” Dennis Rodman Defended Himself by Quoting ‘White Surrogate Family’ and Ex-wife Annie Bakes

Dennis Rodman is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. A basketball Hall of Famer, Rodman is remembered for his eccentric personality.

There were little to no boundaries 6ft 8: Rodman wouldn’t cross. From his on-court demeanor to his highly controversial opinions. He was constantly in the news.

Like when he was supposedly “racist” towards Larry Bird. A situation that forced him to defend himself with his family and fiancé.

Also Read: “Because Larry Bird Is White”: When 6ft 8” Dennis Rodman and Isiah Thomas Launched a Dirty Attack on Celtics Star’s Legacy

Dennis Rodman presented a questionable defense

In 1987, Dennis Rodman made a huge mistake in his young career. He made a remark about Larry Bird. One that painted him as a “racist”.

After facing Larry Legend’s Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, The Worm who had a tough matchup with Bird boldly claimed the 6’9″ forward was “overrated”. The statement led to much ire from the general public who proceeded to target the Pistons forward.

As Rodman recalled in his book, Bad As I Wanna Be, he received a ton of hate mail and was even forced to defend himself by pointing out that he had a “white” surrogate family and finacé.

“I got hate mail after that. Tons of it. It was like I had burned the flag or something. A lot of people had never heard of me before this because I didn’t play all that much my rookie year. What a great way to get people to know your name. People were calling me a racist while I was sitting in Bokchito with the Riches, all of them white. At the time I was engaged to Annie, who is white. It didn’t make a lot of sense when you put my words up against my life.”

Rodman brought up a fair point. After all, he was just commenting on Bird’s style of play. There was nothing racist about it.

Larry Bird once embarrassed The Worm by asking Chuck Daly to send someone out to guard him

Back in the day, the Pistons and the Celtics went head-to-head on a regular basis. It was a heck of a match-up and one that Bird regularly won. To the point where he once embarrassed Dennis Rodman by asking his coach, Chuck Daly to send someone out to guard him because The Worm couldn’t stop him.

Talk about confidence from the Hick from French Lick. The man picked the toughest battles and always made sure to come out on top.

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