Former Chicago Bulls forward and NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman had a simple yet logical take on the greatest rebounder of all time debate.
When talking rebounding, Dennis Rodman's name is being thrown in the conversation more often than not. This is simply because apart from carrying his “Bad Boy” image throughout his wild NBA career, the Bulls legend was also owning players way bigger than him in grabbing boards.
While many, especially from the previous NBA eras, hail Rodman as the greatest rebounder of all time, “Worm” himself doesn't see it that way.
“That sounds too crazy to say s—like that,” Rodman said of being arguably the greatest rebounder of all time via GQ. “I would say Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain. But that’s a different era.”
Barring his disastrous final two seasons in the NBA, Rodman really put in some work on the boards, having recorded no less than 15 rebounds per game since 1991. But aside from rebounding, one thing Rodman takes pride in was his ability to stop the best player in the opposing team.
“Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, all these guys, legendary guys,” the seven-time rebounding champion admitted. “I had to get familiar with how they play, so I had to sit there and focus, focus, focus.”
“I worked on defense every day for, like, a couple of years, man,” he added. “And all of a sudden, I perfected it to the point where I knew how players were going to react to something [before they did].”
After becoming a key figure in the Bulls' sensational second threepeat, Rodman's career spiraled down. He played his last games in the league in the 1999-00 season. Despite his efforts of making a comeback in the first half of 2000's, Rodman never managed to make an NBA return.
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