Dennis Rodman had already checked out of being an NBA player by the time he’d been traded away from the Detroit Pistons to the San Antonio Spurs. Everything from attempted suicide to his father figure, Chuck Daly, not being his head coach any longer in 1992-93 led to him not knowing how to truly stay focused on the game that paid him millions.
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Rodman played on the Spurs for 2 seasons from 1993-1995. His personality and demeanor, as anybody who knows the Spurs, would expect, wasn’t aligned with what San Antonio was trying to build. Both Gregg Popovich and David Robinson come from a military background so Dennis meshing with them would be a tall task
To add insult to injury, his head coach at the time, Bob Hill, never truly got to know the 1986 draftee all too well. Soon this would turn into a feeling of animosity towards one another. However, it wasn’t just Hill as Robinson felt a similar kind of way.
David Robinson called what Dennis Rodman brought to the table a ‘circus’
The Spurs had had it with Rodman by the time the 1995 postseason was coming to an end. The 62-win Spurs would match up against the Rockets in the WCF and would lose in 6 games to the defending champions.
Spurs guard Avery Johnson said that anybody who said Rodman wasn’t being disruptive to the team was lying. ‘The Worm’ did everything from get fined $15,000 for showing up late to an exhibition game to taking off his shoes on the sidelines as almost a sign of protest.
The nail in the coffin (there were several nails in the coffin but when your superstar player says something, it holds a lot more weight to it) was what David Robinson said about Dennis Rodman.
“He and I have talked and Dennis understands clearly what the problem is. He’s not a stupid man. But the circus that he has helped bring to the situation around here has hurt the team. I told him that. It has to change. I told him exactly what’s on my heart.”
Dennis Rodman would get traded from the San Antonio Spurs
Dennis Rodman absolutely tanked his trade value following his shenanigans with the San Antonio Spurs. He would get traded to the Chicago Bulls in the summer of 1995 for Will Perdue. Phil Jackson actually recruited Rodman because he felt as though the Bulls needed him.
They lost the rebounding battle against the Magic in the 1995 semis and so adding ‘The Worm’ filled that gap quite extraordinarily. Of course, Chicago would go on to 3-peat once again from the very first season Rodman played for the Bulls.
