Sunday night, the younger crowd who is watching The Last Dance for a history lesson, got their introduction to The Worm.
Last night's two episodes focused a majority on Rodman, the aloof but always dependable super rebounder and defender that was an extremely valuable part to not just the Last Dance Bulls but the three-peating Bulls of the mid-late 90s.
Rodman, who had played his part in bullying a young Jordan and Pippen in the late 80s as part of the Detroit Pistons' famed Bad Boys, was dealt to the Bulls prior to the '95-'96 season and played an integral, irreplaceable role on the next three Bulls teams.
As valuable and good as Rodman was though on the court, he was just as effective, if you will, off of it. In January of 1998, Rodman said he needed a vacation, and after discussing with Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, took what was to be a 48 hour trip to Las Vegas, though it turned out to be longer.
Rodman was dating Carmen Electra at the time, and took time away from the team to unwind and have fun. Jordan ended up in Vegas knocking on Rodman's door to get him back from his brief time of enjoyment.
In episode four, Jordan recalled the practice with Rodman back with the team, and that in the running drills Rodman would sprint to the front of the line and take over the run.
Last night's profile on Rodman showed both sides of the him, the Piston Bad Boy with the tame look, versus the Spur with the "Demolition Man" hair, then the Bull version that let loose with piercings, more hair dye, and spur of the moment vacations.
Through it all, though, Rodman displayed a supreme will and competitiveness on the court, always dependable when it came time to play. As he stated last night, he was always ready to play and would never let his teammates down. Jordan, in an ultimate compliment, revealed last night that Rodman never let any of his off the court stuff linger onto the court, and that the forward could always be counted on when it came time to play.
Rodman also revealed an amazing thing that he would do in his preparation. He would study the rotations on the ball of all of the great players - from Larry Bird and Jordan and so on - so that he could anticipate and know where the ball would bounce and fall in the event of a missed shot. He would have a guy shoot for him at the end of practice, and just study the way the ball bounced off the rim and the rotation on the shot.
Just amazing.
Dennis Rodman was the ultimate wild card. The bad boy with a wild side who needed his fun fix every now and then, but when on the court was one of, if not the best, defenders of all-time (David Aldridge said last night that Rodman is the best defender he's seen in 30 years, a statement I agree with), while also being the best rebounder in the modern NBA. Rodman is pound for pound the best rebounder the league has ever seen, in the top three in that category with Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.
A wild man, but an excellent basketball player. Irreplaceable and indispensable on the second three-peat Bulls.
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