“Shaq, Kobe, and Dennis on the same team – who’s the biggest superstar?” If you’re Allen Iverson, you’ll think it’s the Big Diesel or Black Mamba. But Shaquille O’Neal picked Dennis Rodman over himself even after calling him the “worst teammate” ever.
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Earlier this year on ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq’, Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal teamed up and recalled their playing days. It was then that Shaq sprung the above question at Iverson. It was surprising to see how Shaq dubbed Rodman a bigger superstar than himself and Kobe Bryant. ‘The Big Aristotle’ explained his stance with an example.
This was during the 1998-99 season when Shaq, Kobe, and Dennis briefly shared the same locker room. Shaq got to witness Rodman’s antics firsthand and could never forget how he impressed women at clubs. After the end of every game, that was rarely the end of Dennis the Menace’s night, ‘Diesel’ revealed,
“We go out first. Then he’ll come out. Give you 25 rebounds, stanking like a motherf***er. [Rodman] Put his clothes on and go to the club and had the baddest women I’ve ever seen in my life surrounding him, hugging him.”
This behavior annoyed Shaq because Dennis didn’t shower after the game and he “smell like garbage truck water” and still “got models on him at the club… He had the girl, I’m like this motherf**** didn’t even wash his a**…”
But this wasn’t the only issue he had with the Rebound King during their time in Los Angeles.
Shaq dubbed Rodman his “worst teammate”
During the conversation, the 4x NBA champion was asked about his worst playing mate. Without even hesitating for a second, ‘Diesel’ answered, “Dennis Rodman.” He explained, “He was a great player, but he made it hard. Like when you try to corral the guys together and the people above you [are] letting this one guy do whatever he wants.”
Though Shaq and Rodman played together only for a year, Shaq Fu was unhappy with the way Rodman was as a teammate. He further mentioned,
“So we had to be there an hour before the game. He’d come in fifteen minutes before the game eating chicken and rice. While the coaches are talking, he would jump in the shower. Cold shower. Come and give you 15-20 rebounds…”
Despite the hate, he regarded Rodman’s elite rebounding. But Shaq’s frustration was also understandable at that point of time.
