Before Dennis Rodman suddenly became an international diplomat or the father of a rising star with the U.S. Women's National Team, the Chicago Bulls legend crossed paths with Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse under unique circumstances in the United Kingdom.
Recalling his brief tenure coaching Rodman with the British Basketball League's Brighton Bears in 2006, Nurse explained how the Hall-of-Famer's stint on the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother made him a “household name” across the pond.
“He was on Celebrity Big Brother UK, right? So this was huge,” Nurse said of Rodman on the most recent episode of The Pat Bev Podcast. “He was in this house with, I don't know, 20 other people, these other celebrities. Everybody's watching this, and they're votin' him in, votin' him out, whatever. He becomes this household name in England…
“[Dennis Rodman] was on Celebrity Big Brother UK. He’s in this house with 20 other celebrities… After he got voted off, he came to play for our [British Basketball League] team… He’s a good dude.”
Nick Nurse coached Rodman in the UK😅
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“So literally, like, we get a call one day and somebody says ‘You wanna see if Rodman will come play once he gets voted off the house?' I called the owner, the sponsor of the team, he said, ‘Yeah man, let's do it!'” Nurse continued. “He made it all the way down to like I think the last three or four in the house and he got voted off. He came down and it was wild, man. We had like completely sold out, over 150 press credentials, which is up from like three…It was pretty interesting. My team was actually running the triangle at the time, and he came in and said, ‘I don't wanna start, Coach. Start your normal guys' and whatever. It was pretty cool. And then he checked in, he literally like hit the backdoor pass in the first possession out of the triangle. He had, I don't know, 20-some rebounds, the place was going wild.”
Rodman played three games in total with Brighton, quickly setting the league's single-game rebounding record by pulling down 23 boards. Not bad for a 44-year-old whose NBA career ended in 2000, right?
Then again, Rodman's domination of the glass and instant popularity in England shouldn't have been surprising. A seven-time rebounding champion across his highly decorated, headline-grabbing career primarily with the Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons, Dennis Rodman emerged as a crossover star in the mid-to-late 1990s while racking up titles alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, appearing in several major movies and dating celebrities like Madonna.
Now 62, Rodman's playing days are firmly in the rearview mirror. Don't let his oddball endeavors or hot-button reputation fool you, though. Nurse only has fond memories of his time spent with “The Worm.”
“That dude is a good dude and a smart dude,” the Sixers coach said. “His knowledge of the game, and the knowledge of like who he is and what he created out of himself. Using that ability and all that stuff, I enjoyed talking to him. Good dude.”
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