It is difficult to find a figure more vivid and controversial in the world of basketball than Dennis Rodman. Exit to the floor or simply appear in public space turned into a show. And now, despite the fact that new heroes shine in the NBA, little has changed. The secret is simple, but at the same time accessible to units: eccentricity, multiplied by huge talent.
And the matter is not only what Dennis did (acidic hair color, piercings, and tattoos in all imaginable and inconceivable places) with his body or how he behaved outside the basketball court. For all his oddities, this man was an excellent athlete. He was twice recognized as the NBA’s best defensive player and for seven consecutive seasons became the leader of the league in rebounds. So who is he really?
New Jersey Bad Boy
The biography of Rodman the basketball player is as fantastic as banal. Dennis is the very hero of the fairy tale about Cinderella, which has not been surprising recently.
Born in the small town of Trenton in New Jersey, raised in a dysfunctional family he was not a diligent student, he spent more time on any job that turned up. Basketball on a more or less serious level in the life of the future owner of five titles was also not so much. Due to his small growth in his school years, Rodman certainly did not give hope for a great career in basketball. But the crazy love for the game from childhood, endless basketball battles in the yard with peers, and incredible luck led him to the end where he was led.
Dennis Keith Rodman showed his real talent only in college. Here he was helped by the fact that he seriously gained in growth. If all young and talented athletes were noticed by scouts of professional clubs, we would live in the fairest world. But this is not so.
Representatives of one of the most powerful franchises of the NBA Eastern Conference of the second half of the 80s Detroit noticed him. Thus began the career of one of the most iconic players in the best basketball league in the world.
It should be said that even now, after almost 20 years of retiring, Rodman is still a prominent figure not only in the NBA but in the rest of the world. During his playing career, he managed to garner a lot of support and love from Canada as well, where a small fan base of supporters was formed during the nineties. Even at the present moment, his popularity is so high, that Canadian casino providers decided to include him in their games, considering his personality. Most notably, best Canadian slot games design trends started to focus on somehow including iconic players on their background or inside the games as well to attract more people. It’s no secret that Rodman was offered to have his face featured on these games many times, but seems he has declined them all.
Fivefold and inadequate
During his career in the NBA, Rodman changed five clubs (Detroit, San Antonio, Chicago, Lakers, Dallas), won five championship rings, established several personal records, and was remembered for all his unique basketball image punk.
Aggression and tough playing on the floor scored points, rebounds and interceptions were not enough for him. Rather, he believed that all this is not enough for such a great game as basketball. Therefore, he added to himself: a player from head to toe covered with tattoo and jewelry, a new hairstyle for each new match. Not surprisingly, this image of fans was even more than those who followed only his sporting successes. There were plenty of them next to Jordan.
However, Rodman himself did not bother much about his place and role in the game. His life quickly went beyond the framework of an NBA player template of the late twentieth century.
“I want to be the worst of all” – an autobiography written by Rodman became a bestseller in the United States in 1996, and a couple of years later the movie of the same name was shot on it. It has everything: the personal life of a basketball player, the atmosphere in which he lived on and off the court, life in the NBA of that time in all the colorful details. Like its author, the book is saturated with contradictions.
The central episode of the book is how Rodman describes his rebirth. In 1993, he divorced his wife, who forbade him to see his five-year-old daughter. There was loneliness, and thoughts of suicide arose in my head. As Dennis himself admitted, it was then that he killed the “old Rodman” and was born again, becoming the way the whole world knows him today:
So it was. Outside the parquet, Rodman led a life no less stormy. For example, he made a career in such a specific sport as wrestling. At first, it was a hobby. But in 1997, he made his debut in the professional ring when he entered the duel of the World Championship Wrestling series with his friend the famous Hulk Hogan. It turned out fun.
And once during a fight between Hogan and Lex Luger at one of the wrestling shows, Rodman appeared in the guise of singer Sting and hit Luger with a baseball bat. Oddly enough, Hogan won that fight. Dennis argued with the judges, dissuaded the opponents with his elbows, led the audience into a rage. In general, an ideal lesson for a showman who is fed up with his main job.
It would be strange if such an actor on the basketball court did not realize his talent beyond its borders. The craving for reincarnations, almost a daily change of image, the ability to work with the audience – all this helps the restless American to remain a welcome hero of any television show. Dennis was able to try himself in the cinema: on his account many roles in films of famous directors with the participation of such stars of his time as Mickey Rourke and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Life after basketball
Today, the conqueror of female hearts and the brawler is happy in his fourth marriage. Perhaps all due to the fact that the couple lives in different houses.
He does not hesitate to put on and wear dresses, dye his lips, grow hair, at the same time advertises milk, protects animals and fights for the environment, invites dozens of world rock groups to his birthday, makes friends and goes basketball with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
