Ex-Piston Dennis Rodman a one-of-a-kind force
Terry Foster, Detroit News staff writer
All eyes were on Dennis Rodman, the many-tattooed former basketball player turned disc jockey and pitchman.
He made his way through the crowd at a business expo in New York City, shaking hands and hugging fans.
A few feet away, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, a member of the cast on MTV's "Jersey Shore" who also was making an appearance at the event, wondered what all the excitement was about.
"He is the guy that used to wear wild hair when he played in the NBA," someone told her.
She shrugged.
"He was on 'Celebrity Apprentice,'" someone else said.
"Oh, now I know who he is," she said.
One of the greatest rebounders and defenders in NBA history has turned into a sideshow for a new generation because of his wild antics, wild parties, relationships with Madonna and others, meltdowns on reality television and takedowns on the professional wrestling circuit.
On April 1 at The Palace, however, people who know Rodman expect the emotional, thoughtful player to show up when his No. 10 jersey is retired during halftime of the Bulls-Pistons game.
A number of his former teammates are expected to be on hand, including John Salley, Isiah Thomas, Rick Mahorn and James Edwards.
Whether he was in a wedding dress or short shorts, Rodman was one of the all-time characters of the NBA. He electrified Palace crowds for seven seasons and was a key component to the 1989 and 1990 championship teams. His stats (8.8 points and 11.5 rebounds) did not match the emotions, both good and bad, he injected into the franchise.
"He is a minority of one and that is not always easy to be," Pistons announcer George Blaha said. "There is nobody else like Dennis Rodman."
'That was a man'
There are many sides to Rodman.
But the Pistons are honoring the young, innocent Rodman who ran the floor like an Olympic sprinter, defended as if his life depended on it, and raised a finger into the air after a dunk.
"Some people in the younger generation don't remember what a legendary basketball player he was," Steve Simon, Rodman's manager, said.
Followers of the Bad Boys remember.
And they also remember his passion.
After winning the first of consecutive defensive player of the year awards in 1990, Rodman broke down at the podium in tears. He ranks fourth on the Pistons career rebounding list with 6,299, and led the franchise in rebounding four consecutive seasons, averaging 18.7 in 1991-92 and 18.3 the following season.
"He took rebounding to a totally different level," Thomas said. "If you remember, the NBA wasn't paying for rebounders. He marketed rebounding and defense and was the first guy to get paid for it and get other people paid for it. He made defense and rebounding sexy."
Rodman was unique in that he could defend everybody — from a point guard to a center, Michael Jordan to Hakeem Olajuwon. He was strong enough and agile enough to block a winning dunk attempt by the 7-foot-1 Olajuwon. And he did the same to 7-foot Patrick Ewing after the Knicks center spun away from Pistons center Bill Laimbeer for a dunk attempt.
"We just saw this body come out of nowhere and make the block," Mahorn recalled. "Me and Laimbeer just looked at each other and said, 'Can you believe that?' That was a man."
Freakishly athletic
Rodman was born in New Jersey but grew up in Oklahoma and Dallas. He was an awkward kid with big ears who lacked the size to play basketball in high school.
He once worked as a janitor in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport and was a family outcast because his sisters showed more promise in basketball.
But Rodman had a huge growth spurt while working at the airport and got a chance to play at Southeastern Oklahoma State, an NAIA school. Former Pistons forward Mark Aguirre called Thomas one day and said: "You guys have to see this kid down here. His game is hard to describe. He can play but he can't play."
In other words, Rodman could dominate a game without scoring.
The Pistons drafted him in the second round in 1986. During training camp former coach and television commentator Dick Motta told Blaha the Pistons had the second-greatest rebounder he'd seen — after Celtics legend Bill Russell.
"Other than make jump shots, there wasn't anything he couldn't do," Blaha said. "His ability to guard anybody and everybody was just amazing. I think when he took off down the court, nobody could stay with him. If we sent Dennis to a world-class track and field coach for two or three months, we could send him to the Olympics and he would win a medal."
Rodman became a workout freak. After games, he spent time on the treadmill and lifting weights. He also requested tapes to take home. He not only studied player moves, but watched the trajectory of player shots, giving him a heads-up on where the ball would land.
Rodman's improved play took minutes away from scoring great Adrian Dantley in 1988. After a heated argument at Boston Garden between coach Chuck Daly and Dantley, Daly later screamed in a Boston hotel: "We've got to get this (expletive) out of here."
Dantley was traded in 1989 to Dallas for Aguirre, who suggested he come off the bench to make way for Rodman.
Rodman provided the emotional spark, along with Salley. Both were young and athletic and made up the frontcourt combination of "Spider" (Salley) and "Worm" (Rodman).
Controversial and sensitive
Rodman played and acted like a kid.
He loved hanging out at video arcades, and befriended Peter Ginopolis, a 13-year-old Pistons ball boy. Rodman was 24.
They swapped stories and went to arcades to play pinball. Peter's father and restaurant owner John often had Rodman over for dinner, and he became part of the family.
"Dennis was a kid," said Peter Ginopolis, now 38. "He did things I wanted to do. It was a super cool relationship. He was kind of introverted. He never went out and drank. But he always wanted to be around people. He was a kid at heart and that was it."
But the Pistons family began to break up.
The Pistons hired Ron Rothstein as radio commentator, with the intention of replacing Daly, and Salley was traded to the Heat.
"When Chuck left, (Rodman's) world started to fall apart," John Ginopolis said. "It was the start of his family being separated from him. It was like family falling apart. … He thought Chuck didn't want to leave but was forced out and that bothered him."
Rodman became reclusive, skipped practices and was late for games. In 1993 he sat in his pickup truck in The Palace parking lot with a shotgun, contemplating suicide.
In his autobiography, "Bad As I Wanna Be," he said the old Rodman died that night, giving birth to the new controversial Rodman.
"I decided that instead of killing myself I was gonna kill the impostor that was leading Dennis Rodman to a place he didn't want to go," he wrote. "So I just said, 'I'm going to live my life the way I want to live it and be happy doing it.'"
He added tattoos on a weekly basis, dyed his hair odd colors and painted words in it.
"His presence is always felt," Mahorn said. "When everyone said he was weird, he was the same person to me."
Pistons management grew tired of his antics.
Rodman refused to talk to coach Rothstein. Fines and suspensions didn't work.
Finally, in 1993, he was traded to the Spurs, and he eventually would go on to win three titles with the Bulls.
"When Dennis left, he reinvented himself," Ginopolis said. "It was pretty much like hanging out with a rock star. But he was always the same person to me. He was always very sensitive and very caring and wanted to know how your family was."
Many feared the Pistons never would honor him because he became such a huge disruption. But the franchise's stance softened, and now Rodman will be center stage on April 1.
"It is an honor long overdue," Thomas said.
Getting to know … Dennis Rodman
Age: 49
Ht.: 6-7
Position: Small forward
Home: Miami
Teams: Pistons (1986-93), Spurs (1993-95), Bulls (1995-98), Lakers (1999), Mavericks (2000)
Championships: Pistons (1989, '90), Bulls ('96, '97, '98)
Points: 6,683
Rebounds: 11,954
Photo captions: Top, Dennis Rodman had the physical tools to score, but preferred to make his mark with his passion for rebounding, defense, and just the game in general. (Detroit News file).
This get-up got Rodman on Blackwell's annual list of Worst Dressed Women. (Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)
