“Dennis Rodman Scientifically Breaks Down Rebounding”: When Isiah Thomas praised The Worm’s Unorthodox Rebounding Practices

Dennis Rodman is one of the most famous figures in NBA history. He is a five-time NBA Champion but is remembered more for his off-the-court antics than anything else. Simply put, he was quite a controversial figure.

That isn’t to say that Rodman wasn’t a great player. The man was known for his incredible defensive ability and relentless rebounding. Hence his nickname, The Worm. But, what exactly made him such a force on the defensive end?

According to Isiah Thomas, who played with Rodman in Detroit, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year had unorthodox strategies. In particular, the way he scientifically broke down rebounding, down to the times a ball spins after a shot.

Isiah Thomas was in awe of Dennis Rodman and his rebounding strategy

In the 1986 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons landed a steal in the second round with the pick of Dennis Rodman. The Worm fit in seamlessly with the Bad Boys, joining the likes of Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, and of course the star of the team, Isiah Thomas.

With his tenacious defense and elite rebounding, Rodman took the Pistons over the hump, turning them into a championship-quality team.  He has been praised for the same time and time again, and most recently Isiah Thomas was the one doling it out. Zeke commented on Rodman’s scientific rebounding strategy on the All the Smoke podcast.

“I never saw anybody scientifically break down rebounding the way Dennis Rodman did. Whenever we start taking short pull-up shots, he would stop. So I said, “What you doing man? Get in line!”, and he was like, “No I’m counting!”. So, Dennis was a little strange anyway and I’m like, “I ain’t even going to respond to that!”. Now we break up, and he’s still standing under the basket and he just looking at everybody balling. I said, “What you doing?”, and he said, “I’m counting them! I’m counting the spins on the ball!”. He said, “When you shoot, your ball spin like three times. Joe is sometimes four!”. This dude was counting the rotation on the ball on every player. He knew how long it was going to be in the air. How many times it rotated. Where it was going to hit. Where it would bounce. I had never seen nobody break down rebounding like that in my life.”

Rodman truly was a rebounding genius. And, if you don’t believe Isiah, all you have to do is look at the stats. After all, he was a seven-time rebounding champion.

Rodman led the league in rebounding for seven straight seasons

There can be no denying that Dennis Rodman was an elite rebounder. The man managed to grab around 13 rebounds per game over the course of his career. Add to that the fact that he is a seven-time rebounding champion and you might be looking at the greatest rebounder of all time.

History will never forget the career of The Worm. The kind of player whose dedication to defense and rebounding is rarely seen in today’s NBA.