Dennis Keith Rodman is an American known in the field of Basketball. He was nicknamed ‘The Worm’ because of his rebounding and defensive skills. Initially, Rodman had played at the small forward before eventually becoming a power forward. During his career, Rodman had played in the National Basketball Associationfor the teams, including Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, and Detroit Pistons.
Interestingly, Rodman, aka the Worm, was honored seven times and had won an award, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Moreover, he was also deemed as the best rebounding forward in NBA history. If you are a ‘legit’ sports enthusiast, you must also visit https://www.jokaroom.net/en/ and experience playing in the best online casinos in Australia.
Years in Basketball
Born on May 13, 1961, Dennis Rodman was the son of Shirley and Philander Rodman, an air force member who fought in the Vietnam War. At a young age, his father had left their family and eventually settled in the Philippines. On his father’s side, Dennis Rodman has about twenty-six or twenty-eight siblings. However, all in all, Dennis was the oldest among his forty-six siblings.
In his high school years, Rodman attended the South Oak Cliff High School and was a student of Gary Claude Blair, the head basketball coach of Texas A&M. Aside from him, Blair had also coached his sisters, Debra and Kim, who have won three state championships. Moreover, despite being a notable sports star, Rodman was previously not considered an athletic standout. In fact, he was unable to hit a layout. Also, although he was on a team before, Rodman was either benched or cut from the team.
After his high school, Rodman worked as a janitor at Dallas Worth International Airport. It was also then where he started to try Basketball again. Dennis had his first semester at Cooke County College in Gainesville, Texas. In there, Rodman had an average of 17.6 points, alongside his 13.3 rebounds. However, he flunked due to poor academic performance. After studying in Gainesville, he transferred to a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school, Southeastern Oklahoma State University. In there, Rodman was a three-time All-America and had led the NAIA in rebounding twice from the years 1985 to 1986. Also, he led his school to NAIA semi-finals and scored forty-six points, alongside his tying record of thirty-two rebounds. Subsequently, he was invited to a pre-draft camp of NBA hopefuls, the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, where he was awarded the Most Valuable Player.
During college, Rodman had also worked at a summer youth basketball camp. In there, he befriended a camper named Byrne Rich. Rodman became close to Rich’s family, who had helped him through college. However, in 2013, Rodman had lost connection to the Rich’s for an unknown reason.
From years 1986 to 1989, Rodman had been drafted by the Detroit Pistons. With the Pistons, Rodman won fifty-two games. They swept the Washington Bullets and beat the Boston Celtics in a game that was called one of the toughest series ever. Moreover, the Pistons fought their way into the NBA Finals in 1988. Subsequently, also in that season, the Pistons also won six games against the Chicago Bulls. Although Rodman suffered from back spasm during the game, he had dominated the board, performing nineteen rebounds in Game 3. In the year 1990, Rodman established himself as the small forward of the Pistons. He played strong defense that the NBA stated that he could shut down an opposing player.
After three years of playing with the Pistons, Rodman joined the Spurs. However, after a year, he crashed the Spurs’ office front door and was suspended for three games. After rejoining the team, he suffered from a motorcycle accident, which limits his season to forty-nine games. Prior to the 1995 season, Rodman was traded to the Chicago Bulls. After a year, in the 1996 playoffs, Rodman had scored 7.5 points and 13.7 rebounds. As well as that, Rodman had also played a big part in the 1996 NBA Finals, where he grabbed twenty rebounds. Following that, the regular season of 1997 to 1998 ended with Rodman winning his seven consecutive rebounding titles.
After the 1997 to 1998 season, the Bulls released Rodman in January 1999. Consequently, he joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the remainders of the season. He played only in twenty-three games before he was eventually released in the off-season. In the following season of 1999-2000, the thirty-eight-year-old Rodman was signed by the Dallas Mavericks. In there, he played twelve games. Along with his winnings were the six technical fouls and one suspension.
Years after NBA Career
After Rodman’s NBA career, he took a long break from Basketball and concentrated on his wrestling and film career. However, after a long hiatus, he eventually returned to playing Basketball for the Long Beach Jam of the American Basketball Association. Afterward, in the following 2004 to 2005 season, he signed with the ABA’s Orange County Crush, then with the Tijuana Dragons. In November 2005, Rodman also played one match for Finland’s basketball league, TorpanPojat.
In 2006, he played two exhibitions games in the Philippines, alongside ex-NBA stars, including Kevin Willis, Otis Birdsong, Darryl Dawkins, and Calvin Murphy. In addition, on April 27, they have defeated the former team of the Philippine Basketball Association in Mandaue, Cebu. However, in their second game, their team was lost to the Philippine National Basketball Team in May 2006. Later on, in April 2011, Rodman was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.