Five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman built a legacy on his elite rebounding skills and his eccentric behaviour. A fraction of his wild side was covered in the Netflix documentary “The Last Dance.” Although Rodman left the Bulls in 1998 after winning the 5th championship, there were no changes in his behaviour and personality. Recently, on the Uninterrupted Podcast, Lakers icon Robert Horry gave an insight into one incident where the former Bulls star had an altercation with coach Kurt Rambis.
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Rodman, like Michael Jordan, also exited the Chicago Bulls after winning the championship in the 1998 Championship, but unlike Jordan who retired, ‘The Worm’ joined the Los Angeles Lakers. Back then, the franchise did not own a practice facility. They would practice Great Western Forum and Los Angeles Southwest College. The inconvenience of having to alternate between two facilities did not bother anyone on the Lakers except Rodman. Horry recalled that he was always late. He then recalled the first time he made it to practice on time:
“The first time Rodman ever made it to practice on time, he had no shoes because someone stole [his shoes]. He walked in there [with no shoes], and – we talked about having a day – [Lakers’ first-year head coach] Kurt Rambis had a bad day. He was like, ‘I’m sick of you s**t. Get the f**k out.'”
Per Horry, Rodman tried to plead his case, but Rambis had none of it. The Lakers waived the former Bulls star in April 1999, seven weeks after landing him in free agency.
Rodman was known for his eccentric behaviour as shown in ‘The Last Dance’, Jordan and Phil Jackson had a tough time managing him. In one of the episodes, ‘The Worm’ requested permission to go on a Vegas vacation. However, he didn’t show up even after the approved 48 hours, so, Jordan himself had to travel to Vegas to bring the man back.
The Lakers side had a young Kobe and Shaq on their squad, and the 5x championship winner, Dennis Rodman must had the feeling of superiority on the team. Unfortunately for the Lakers, there was no Jordan or Phil Jackson on their team to extract the best out of him.
Rodman played 23 games for the Lakers and averaged 2.1 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. He remained a free agent until January 2000. The Dallas Mavericks allowed 38-year-old Rodman to prove his worth.
The Rodman experiment in Dallas ended quickly. He was on the team for only 13 games, and the Mavericks went 4-9 during that span. He missed one game due to a suspension. This was Rodman’s last hurrah in the NBA. He tried to make a comeback to the league until 2006 and continued to play for a slew of teams overseas, but nothing materialized. He played his last professional basketball game for the Brighton Bears in 2006 and was enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.
Dennis Rodman blames Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant for Lakers exit
Robert Horry’s story of Dennis Rodman’s exit from the Lakers is somewhat accurate. After the team announced that the former Bulls star had been waived, then-head Kurt Rambis told reporters he sent the forward home from practice because he was “slow getting ready because he couldn’t find his socks and shoes.” He claimed the Lakers no longer wanted to continue giving him special treatment.
Rodman believes there’s more to the story. He once claimed Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were jealous of the attention he was getting while on the Lakers. He said:
“People would actually come to see me because they haven’t seen me in six months, so Kobe and Shaq would be so envious of me. [The Lakers] catered to me so much about me coming to the game, going out to the game, having parties, doing this, doing that, hotel stuff. They couldn’t stand me on that damn team, to be honest with you.”
In a segment called ‘Teammate Game’ on the NBA on TNT, O’Neal revealed the former Bulls star did not take showers post-game. The former Lakers superstar added that despite his unhygienic habit, Rodman would be surrounded by the “baddest” women he’s ever seen. He also once called the seven-time rebounding champions the worst teammate he’s ever had.
On an episode of the Big Podcast with Shaq, O’Neal said:
“Rodman was a great player, but he made it hard. Like when you try to corral the guys together and the people above you letting this one guy do whatever he wants.”
O’Neal and Rodman share some animosity for each other. Their partnership on the court could have yielded devastating results for opposition teams. But Rodman’s eccentric behaviour ensured their stint as teammates was shortlived.
