When the basketball world was already beginning to miss the brilliance of the Celtics of the 80's, and at the same time that the Magic of the Lakers, a group of players emerged in Detroit, forever the Bad Boys, located between the It was Bird&Magic and It was Jordan.. In that group of “bad guys” Dennis Rodman was a secondary actor, although his career on and off the court justifies us talking about him. "The Big Bad Boy"
Drafted in the second round of '86 (what good second rounds the history of the NBA has produced), Rodman began his first year as a professional in the NBA playing 77 games with an average of 15 minutes per game. The “worm” was gaining prominence in those Pistons of the late XNUMXs, while gaining defensive hierarchy in the league. An excellent rebounder, Rodman averaged more than 18 rebounds per game in his last two seasons (1992 and 1993) with the Pistons, the least brilliant of a team that had won the 1989 and 1990 finals.
Perhaps this is why Rodman, yesterday at a press conference, could not explain the reason for this tribute. Yes, he participated in the franchise's two championships, but he did so as a rotation player (important, yes), playing around 28 minutes per game in the seasons that ended with the Motown victory. But his defensive intensity and rebounding power grew in the playoffs, and being still young and still a supporting actor for those Pistons of Thomas, Dumars, Laimbier and Chuck Daly, in the complete playoffs from 4-0 to the Lakers, Rodman averaged 10 rebounds per game.
In his tribute yesterday, Rodman yesterday missed Chuck Daily, a coach who marked him like probably no other, with whom he lived his first seven years as a professional. His disconnection from the city is such that yesterday he admitted that the last time he was in Detroit was at a game in 1998. Yesterday he returned to his house. It won't be more than 10 years since he returns. When he does, he will see his jersey hanging next to that of Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbier and Vinnie Johnson, teammates and bad boys.
"The Worm" is an example of a player above statistics. And this is another explanation for the retirement of his number 10 from the Pistons (I'm sorry, Greg Monroe.). It is also an example of extreme extra-sports behavior, or in other words, that real life is stranger than fiction. The most normal thing he has done off the court has been going out with Madonna or getting (a brief) marriage with Carmen Electra. Everything about Rodman is histrionic and abnormal. From presenting his biography dressed in a wedding dress to give a radio interview in the middle of a sexual encounter. The player with a thousand faces.
Although it is easy to go to your "private" life, Rodman is a player who has reached very important heights in the NBA. Two-time AllStar (1990 and 1992), two-time defensive player of the year (1990 and 1991), seven times present on the defensive team of the year (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996), five championships (1989 and 1990 with the Pistons; 1996, 1997 and 1998 with the Bulls). Not bad for a guy who came to the Bulls in exchange for Will Perdue.
In his last appearance in the NBA he wore the jersey of the Lakers, where he shared a locker room with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Derek Fisher and Derek Harper, among others. Even that year, when he was already 38 years old, he averaged more than 10 rebounds per game. The ball loved him.