When Dennis Rodman looks at current players cut from the same cloth as him, like Draymond Green, he feels he has missed out. Understandably so.
Advertisement
At the peak of his career, Dennis Rodman was one of the most talked-about players in the NBA. But the media buzz wasn’t generated solely due to his basketball talent. His off-court antics, rebellious attitudes, even his appearance — the distinctive tattoos and eccentric choice of hair color — all served to earn him the ‘Dennis the Menace’ nickname.
All that attention would have made Rodman a millionaire media celebrity if he were playing today. But Rodman played in an era when players didn’t get those eye-popping contracts. Draymond Green, for instance, commanded an annual salary of $25 million back in 2019. And Rodman wishes he could’ve taken home similar paychecks.
Ahead of the 2019-20 season, Rodman sat down with Business Insider for a special interview about the landscape of the NBA. At the time, players were receiving the kind of money that players of past eras couldn’t even begin to fathom.
In Rodman’s 14-year career, he earned a sum total of just over $27 million. The most money he earned in a single season was $9 million during the 1995-96 season with the Bulls. Compared to modern NBA role players who are similar in value to Rodman, that number is minuscule.
Warriors star Draymond Green has a similar motor and drive as Rodman. Shortly before Rodman’s comments, Green agreed to a four-year extension worth $99.6 million, averaging roughly $25 million each season.
That number stuck out to the five-time NBA champion. Rodman revealed that if he had been playing in the league during this generation, that would have been the amount of money he would have commanded.
“I said I wish I was like you, Draymond, getting $25 million just to do what you do,” Rodman said. “I probably got like a quarter of what you’ve got, what I was doing.”
Rodman firmly believes his skills deserved a higher pay than what he actually got. He certainly has a case, as he was a critical member of championship-winning teams for the Pistons and Bulls. After all, Michael Jordan and Bulls head coach Phil Jackson tolerated Rodman’s antics because of the value he had on the court.
When Rodman got conned out of millions
While Rodman didn’t earn as much money as he feels he should’ve throughout his career, poor decisions also contributed to his subsequent financial difficulties and led to him losing millions of dollars.
Rodman did not earn as much money as he would’ve liked during his playing years in the NBA. So he tried for more post-retirement. The two-time All-Star met a woman by the name of Peggy Ann Fulford. He thought she would be his saving grace, but she turned out to be his worst nightmare.
She had managed to convince him that she was a Wall Street expert and could earn Rodman a pile of money. The Hall-of-Fame forward entrusted millions of dollars to Fulford to manage. Instead, she ran off with over $2 million from Rodman’s bank accounts.
The Worm wasn’t the only athlete to fall victim to Fulford’s conniving ways. Former NBA player Travis Best also lost money to Fulford.
In 2019, Rodman filed a fraud lawsuit against Fulford. She eventually pled guilty and received a sentence of 120 months in prison and an order to pay $5.79 million to the victims, which included Rodman.
It was a painful lesson to learn for the former NBA star. But winning the legal case provided some consolation and compensation. He is now significantly more savvy when it comes to financial matters.
