Dennis Rodman is one of the most peculiar personalities in sports history. While the Worm was certainly a great defensive star on the court, his antics off the court were pretty shocking. Getting in trouble with the law, dating numerous celebrities, obsessively gambling, and being addicted to any kind of intoxication became a regular part of Dennis’ life. Consuming alcohol and drugs pretty often, Rodman once shocked everybody, including an Atlantic City casino’s manager, with his impressive awareness even when he was inebriated. In an excerpt from “I Should be Dead by Now”, the Bulls legend recalls the incident when he retrieved $1,000 from a girl he planned on sleeping with.
Advertisement
Rodman was a troublemaker. While he was a difficult character for any franchise to deal with, off the court, he was the life of every party. While people assumed him to be a fun guy, Dennis revealed that he was actually quite situationally aware, especially when he was gambling.
The story he narrated in his book is a great example of the same.
“I’m missing a $1,000 chip”: Dennis Rodman recalls wild tale in his book
During one of his visits to Atlantic City, the 6-foot-7 forward specifically remembered the house advancing him $25,000 worth of chips. Despite being drunk, the 2-time Defensive Player of the Year was aware of the $1,000 he was missing.
While people just assumed that the NBA star miscounted, his bodyguard, George Triantafillo, made sure that the manager checked the ‘eye in the sky’.
As Dennis correctly suspected, a girl who he was planning to sleep with, stole a $1,000 chip from the table. George eventually retrieved the money for Rodman and escorted the lady to the casino security.
The excerpt from his book read:
George waited a few minutes, then pulled the girl aside on some pretense, and called her out. She denied it, repeating, “I didn’t steal shit! I didn’t steal shit!” Right about then, George told her she was the star of her own casino video. Now she was sweating.
“If I give you the money, will you let me go?” she asked.
“Sure, no problem,” George replied.
She jammed a hand down the front of her pants and dug 10-$100 bills out of her panties. George counted the money and then escorted her over to the two suits from casino security.
“You told me you were going to let me go,” she said.
“Yeah, and you told me you didn’t steal the chip,” George said. “I guess we’re both liars.”
Being as intoxicated and often as Rodman is unhealthy, to say the least. However, it is pretty incredible that Rodman can be so situationally aware even when he wasn’t in his senses.
Now we understand how Rodman was able to play all those games while having a hangover.
Alcohol ruined Rodman’s life
Rodman earned roughly $27 million after the conclusion of his 12-year career.
While all the alcohol, gambling, drugs, and pretty women may have seemed fun, it all led to his downfall. Today, having blown all of his money, the NBA Hall-Of-Famer is only worth a mere $500,000.
However, he did try to get better by going to rehab. Every time Dennis is out of rehab, he swears to have been off alcohol. But, he falls right down the spiral, only to go back into rehab.
He has even spoken about his rehabs on a few occasions. In some instances, he referred to himself as a god, and in others, he revealed going into relapse only because he was bored being sober for 2 years.
