Dennis Rodman became one of the toughest players in the NBA during his prime, but unfortunately he had to do it all without his father who abandoned him at a very early age.
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Rodman is widely known for playing an instrumental role in the Chicago Bulls second three-peat, being cited as the defensive anchor for a team that established themselves as a dynasty in the 90s.
Rodman was the third piece of the Bulls big three centered around Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. He brought a unique personality to the Bulls team and gave them a defensive anchor to base their scheme around.
He was also at the forefront of rebounding supremacy, leading the league multiple times in that category despite being a forward. However, Rodman has always had to do it without a father, someone who he didn’t really accept in his life until relatively recently.
Dennis Rodman initially refused to accept his Dad
Rodman’s dad left him very early in his life, perhaps only when he was 3 or 4 years old. In an interview, Rodman came out and said that he simply couldn’t accept a man who had been absent for a majority of his life.
His dad, Philander Rodman, had begun to show support for his son by rocking his Bulls jersey and had mentioned that he was proud of his son, but Rodman refused to accept, questioning how he could be proud of him when he was missing from his life for the longest time.
However, Rodman did eventually reconcile with his dad in 2012 when he travelled to Manilla, Philippines, for an exhibition game. In a pre-game press conference, Rodman reached out and invited his dad to watch the game, and the two caught up for a bit. Philander was very emotional about all of it, but more than anything, he was happy to be able to meet his son.
“I’ve been trying to meet him for years,” he said. “And then last night, boom, I met him. I was really, really happy and very surprised. He accepted me as his father. That’s the first time he ever called me his father.”
Unfortunately, Rodman and his father couldn’t continue to build their relationship further as his father died in Pampanga on July 14th, 2020 at 79 years old because of a long and hard fought prostate cancer. However, the two had definitely found a way to mend their relationship, the biggest step being when Rodman accepted that Philander was his father.
