Dennis Rodman was the intangible force propelling the Chicago Bulls to historic greatness from 1995-98. No Dennis Rodman, no 72 win season in Chicago and possibly no three-peat repeat for Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
Rodman solidified his place among great rebounders in NBA history during his run with the Bulls. He averaged 14.9, 16.1 and 15 rpg in his three seasons with Chicago, leading the league each year from '96-'98. The only player to average 15 boards in a season since is Ben Wallace in 2003. No one has reached 16 rpg since Rodman.
The Worm received First Team All Defense honors in the Bulls' record setting 72 win season. He'd already been a two time Defensive Player of the Year with the Detroit Pistons as well as a First Team All Defensive player for the San Antonio Spurs.
In Chicago, Rodman made an artform of hustle plays. He hit the floor for loose balls more readily than Jordan, Pippen or any other player on the Bulls' roster.
Check out this hustle play where Rodman somersaults and crash lands NBC's Bob Costas, leaving the announcer on the floor in a heap.
Dennis Rodman became a master of mind games in Chicago. He played wearing nail polish with the brightest hair colors in professional basketball history, mens' or womens'. He toyed with lesser players like Benoit Benjamin by calling him "Ben Wa Balls."
Rodman's best mind games were saved for the playoffs. He used his Drag Queen style of martial arts to unnerve Alonzo Mourning on the young center's way to being swept out of the playoffs. Here's a clip of Rodman laying on Mourning under the basket like a honeymooner in orgasmic bliss. Mourning's inner homophobe was activated and he wound up benched and repeatedly yelling "You're a sick motherfucker!" at an amused Dennis Rodman.
In the '96 Finals against Seattle, Dennis Rodman easily dismantled the Sonics' goon Frank Brickowski into technical & flagrant fouls. Seattle's coach, George Karl, sent Brickowski in to try to get a tech or even ejection on Rodman. The Brick was no mental or physical match for the Worm.
Bulls' coach Phil Jackson was a free spirit, not unlike Dennis Rodman, during his playing days with the Knicks. He took LSD and had wild hair with a mountain man beard. He even called his first book "Maverick" which meant "an unorthodox or independent-minded person" before John McCain turned it into a cracker war cry of conservatism.
Jackson enjoyed having Rodman on the Bulls and saw him as a valuable teammate on and off the court.
"Dennis has been a real blessing for us because he's like a heyoka," Jackson said. He continued by explaining that for the Lakota people, a heyoka "was a cross-dresser, a unique person, respected because he brougt a reality change when you saw him."
At the same time, then Knicks GM Dave Checketts said, "When I saw pictures of (Rodman) with the makeup job, I just couldn't believe this is what it has come to. I guarantee you that as long as I'm running the New York Knicks, he will not be on this club."
Phil Jackson has thirteen total NBA championship rings to Checketts' zero. Checketts might have done better to judge talent based on basketball skills rather than makeup.
After their 1998 championship, the Bulls GM Jerry Krauss broke up the dynasty and Dennis never played a full NBA season again. His contribution to the greatness of the Bulls can only partially be measured by his impressive stats. His intangibles as a hustler, energizer & free spirit elevated the Bulls into being arguably the greatest team in NBA history.
In case you think Dennis was only about defense, check out this display of shooting accuracy as Rodman rains threes down the stretch on the Milwaukee Bucks to the delight of the Chicago crowd.
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