mobile app bar

“The Rodzilla was called homophobic slurs and a distraction!”: How Dennis Rodman and his temperament forged him as the 1990s NBA villain 

Jeet Pukhrambam
Published

“Isiah Thomas saved my career by taking the heat for my Larry Bird diss”: Dennis Rodman credited Pistons guard for an immense amount of his own success in NBA

Dennis Rodman was a mercurial athlete. He had the bad boy image because at the time he was doing things that nobody even thought of! 

There are very few athletes that radiate as brightly as Dennis Rodman did. From all the good things he did, 7-time rebounding leader, 5 NBA championships, and countless wins; to all the bad, Dennis shone brighter than any star.

He did so in his own way. Uncaged by the rules of society and unbothered by the opinions of his peers, Rodman stood out in a way that was unique to him.

Everyone from the NBA commissioners to fellow players disliked it. He did things on his own accord and for those that abided by rules it didn’t fit in with their ideologies.

Today’s NBA is a different landscape altogether. The freedom of expression is evident when you see players dressing up and showing off their tattoos. All of this is courtesy of Dennis Rodman.

Also read: “Dennis Rodman would eat Draymond Green alive”: When James Worthy gave his opinion about the Warriors point forward’s chances against The Worm

Dennis Rodman paved the way for modern superstars to rock piercings and adorn their bodies with tattoos

But today’s luxuries that are afforded to NBA players were not easy obstacles for Rodman to overcome. He was constantly called racial slurs, mocked in tabloids, and despised across America. The prototypical bad boy.

Players today dress how they want, talk how they want, and portray themselves in the imagery they see fit. This vivid exhibition of expressionism was enabled by Rodman.

As much as we cover his frankly crazy lifestyle, it is also important to pay homage to a player who paved the path for NBA stars to be the way they want to be.

The modern icon of individualism and a five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman will forever be the ‘bad boy’ of basketball.

Also read: ‘Mark Cuban has a no.69 Dennis Rodman jersey hanging in his office’: How the Bulls legend tried to wear an explicit number for the Mavericks 

About the author

Jeet Pukhrambam

Jeet Pukhrambam

x-iconinstagram-iconlinkedin-icon

Jeet Pukhrambam is The SportsRush's Lead Editor for Basketball. After freelancing for five years as an independent writer, Jeet created thousands of blog posts and articles. He now covers intriguing news reports and throwback stories on all things NBA. His interest in NBA started with the ascendancy of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2016-17 season. Since then, Jeet has managed to coalesce his knowledge of the game and his writing to create pieces that are reflective of the current state of the league. Now, he ensures that The SportsRush produces the highest quality of writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, cooking, traveling, and dancing to techno. Jeet takes pride in his critical thinking, music playlists, and his love for spaghetti.

Share this article