During the 1990s, the NBA had strict rules about players presenting themselves during practice and games. Phil Jackson, then-head coach of the Chicago Bulls, had his hands full with Dennis Rodman who was always looking to defy the rules, whether it was how the player presented himself, to just being punctual. In his book, “Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success“, the coach talked about handling Rodman’s rebellious attitude.
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Dennis Rodman personified being a rebel in the league. He had his way of doing things which usually differed from the rest of the players and often made headlines. From his hair colors to his late-night partying, ‘The Worm’ had a way about him that was not easy to handle. So, how did Phil manage his shenanigans? Here is what Phil Jackson wrote in his book:
“At first Dennis tried to skirt the rules, as if he were playing a game. One rule was that players had to show up for practice on time with their shoelaces tied and all their jewelry put away. Dennis would often appear with one shoe untied or a piece of jewelry hidden somewhere. Sometimes I’d give him a silly fine or make a joke about his appearance, and other times we’d just ignore him. I told him that it wasn’t me he had to worry about if he came late to practice; it was his teammates. Once he realized that none of us were really interested in his little rebellions, the problem went away.”
Phil handled Rodman by treating him like a kid looking for attention, and it worked wonders for him. Rodman would often flounder rules by having his shoelaces untied or a piece of jewelry on him. As mentioned by Jackson, he would not take his antics seriously and would often ignore him. If he came late to practice, he did not get angry or throw fits. Instead, in his ‘zen’ manner, the coach would tell him that it’s Michael Jordan or Scottie Pippen that he is letting down.
Once Rodman understood that nobody was interested in playing around, his rebellious attitude automatically died down. It was a genius move by the Hall of Fame coach. He was known to treat each of his personnel differently and did not apply a ‘one fits all’ approach. Eventually, they achieved huge success together and despite their initial difference came together for the common goal – winning titles together.
Dennis Rodman once apologized to Scottie Pippen
There was a lot of bad blood between the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls during the early 1990s. Dennis Rodman was part of the ‘Bad Boys’ Pistons team, that faced backlash for their physical style of play. During one of the games between the Pistons and the Bulls, Rodman pushed Pippen off the court intentionally, which led to the latter requiring six stitches. So, when the Chicago Bulls were trying to add Rodman to their roster, they needed to resolve any bad blood that still existed. Dennis Rodman explained how Phil Jackson took the lead in an interview in 2020 and said:
“And Phil came up to me and said, ‘Dennis, you know, before we put you on the team could you do me a favor?’ I’m like, ‘What is that Phil?’ He said, ‘Could you go and tell Scottie you’re sorry? (laugher) I’m like, ‘Sorry for what?’ He said, ‘You know, that series you guys had in’ 91.’
I said, ‘You want me to go say sorry for that?’ He said, ‘Would you just go do it?’ I said alright. I went over to Scottie and said, ‘Scottie, sorry about that, man, you know, pushing you out of bounds.’ Scottie said, ‘Don’t worry about it, it’s OK, it’s OK, we just want to win a championship.’ He said, ‘Are you on board?’ I said, ‘Hell yeah, I’m on board.’ So that’s how I signed the contract right there, I had to apologize to Scottie. (laughter) That’s the only reason I was a Chicago Bull, I had to apologize to him, and then after that, the rest was history.”
In a brilliant move by Jackson, an apology led to the superstar players putting their differences aside for the greater good. This eventually led to the greatest dynasty ever built in the NBA. They went on to win three consecutive championships between 1996 and 1998. Some still consider that team the best-assembled team in the history of the league. Further, it also shows that sometimes the biggest issues have the simplest solutions.
