To say that Dennis Rodman was eccentric would be a grave understatement. The 6’7 rebounding machine played a pivotal role with the Bulls in their second three-peat. Rodman’s odd persona can be directly attributed to his childhood and his problematic relationship with his mother, Shirley Rodman.
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In his book ‘ Bad As I Want To Be’ Rodman draws a picture of his rough childhood. From gang-ridden streets to food stamps, Dennis saw it all on the daily. Things were always tight in the Rodman household. So tight, in fact, that the Bulls legend once even crawled through a sewage drain just to attend the State Fair as a kid.
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Dennis Rodman once crawled through drains to attend the Texas State Fair
Growing up dirt poor, Rodman often didn’t have the money for even the simplest of joys. Even if it was just a few cents to enter the State Fair.
But that didn’t stop Rodman and his friends from attending the Texas State Fair. Dennis and his friends had mapped a channel of sewage tunnels that led to the center of the State Fair.
Rodman, while describing the experience in his book, Bad As I Wanna Be, told his readers,
“The Texas State Fair is held in Dallas, about five miles from where I grew up in the Oak Cliff projects. None of the kids I hung around with had enough money to get into the fair, but we went every year. There is an underground sewage tunnel that can take you right there. We’d crawl in through a manhole in the project and start our journey. This tunnel was legendary among kids in Oak Cliff; I think everyone who grew up there went to the state fair that way at one time or another. My friends and I started taking this route when I was thirteen or fourteen. The tunnel took us right into the middle of the state fair. There was a manhole cover right inside.”
Recalling people’s reaction, Rodman continued,
“You should have seen the looks on people’s faces when we would climb the ladder and lift off the manhole cover. We’d pop our heads out like groundhogs, squinting in the sun. Nobody ever bothered with us, though; maybe they thought anybody who would put themselves through that deserves a little fun.”
Rodman was a product of his environment
Dennis grew up with his mother and two sisters. Rodman’s father left when Rodman was just a child. With his mother mostly absent, Rodman grew up on the streets almost completely unsupervised.
Though deeply attached to his mother, Rodman was always neglected by Shirley. With two All-American sisters, Rodman often went unnoticed as he spent most of his childhood in their shadow. Rodman resorted to working as a janitor after school till he hit a late growth spurt, rekindling his dream of being a basketball player.
The neglect, poverty, and childhood abuse caught up with Dennis as he began to garner fame and fortune. From partying and missing practice to dying his hair in different colors and marrying himself, Dennis was a nightmare to manage for any front office.
Through the years, Dennis has given the public an insight into the mind behind the madness. Often returning to his traumatic childhood memories, which serve as the pivot around which he tries to maneuver through his controversy-ridden life.
