To this very day, we have yet to encounter a more bizarre personality in the NBA than the one and only Dennis Rodman. Be that as it may, the 6-foot-7 forward was a beast of a player during his prime. Rodman finished his career with five championships, with three of them coming with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
Recently, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr — who himself was part of the second Bulls three-peat — opened up about that time Rodman skipped practice between Games 3 and 4 of the 1998 NBA Finals in order to attend a WCW match:
“There was a real connection that existed that gave Dennis the freedom and space that he needed,” Kerr recently told Mark Medina of USA Today on a conference call. “It wasn’t a thing where we were all complaining of Dennis not making it to a practice. We sort of understood that he was his own man and he did so much for our team that we allowed him to have that freedom.”
As it turns out, the Bulls were actually more than willing to turn a blind eye on Rodman's off-court antics. After all, he was still able to get the job done. How many other players in the NBA could you say has this type of preferential treatment? This is just testament to the fact that Rodman is truly one-of-a-kind.
For the record, Rodman did not appear to miss a beat in Game 4 despite missing practice. He ended up having one of his best performances of the Finals, logging six points, a series-high 14 boards, and two assists as his elite defense helped the Bulls to a 86-82 victory against the Utah Jazz.
Rodman and his antics are featured heavily in Part 3 of “The Last Dance.”
Follow Us
Subscribe