Happy 64th Birthday, Dennis Rodman

Dennis Rodman waiting to check in to a game for the Chicago Bulls. Photo credit Jeff Haynes AFP, Getty Images.

An NBA legend celebrates a birthday on May 13 as Dennis Rodman turns 64. 

Rodman, whose boundless energy, supreme conditioning, and maniacal thirst for the ball led him to become one of the greatest defenders and rebounders in NBA history, won seven consecutive rebounding titles from 1991-1998 and won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards in 1990 and 1991. From 1989-1996, he made the All-Defensive team, garnering First Team honors in each season in that span with the exception of 1994 when he made the Second Team. He was also a two-time all-star, in 1990 and 1992. 

Born in Trenton, NJ, Rodman grew up in Dallas, Texas. Contrary to the path of other Hall of Fame players, Rodman, only 5 feet, 11 inches as a high schooler, did not make his high school team. Instead, a growth spurt after high school propelled him to 6 feet, 6 inches. In 1981, he played for Cook County Junior College before attending and playing at Southeastern Oklahoma State - in tiny Durant, OK - from 1983-1986. For the Savage Storm, a Division II program of the Great American Conference, Rodman led the NAIA in rebounding in 1985 and 1986, averaging 16.1 rebounds and 17.8 rebounds. 

In the 1986 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons used their second pick of the first round, 27th overall, to select Rodman, 16 selections after taking John Salley with the 11th overall pick. Rodman was taken two selections after Mark Price, a fellow future all-star. Brad Daugherty, the top selection to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Jeff Hornacek, and Kevin Duckworth were the other eventual all-stars out of that draft. 

Going to Detroit, Rodman was joining a team that had won 46 games the previous season and was coming off a playoff loss to the Atlanta Hawks. In his first two seasons, Rodman played sparingly, averaging 9.1 points and 6.6 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game. As a second year player, he averaged 11.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, displaying in limited minutes (26 per game) his unique talent for getting rebounds. 

Rodman played all 82 games in his third season, the second of five straight seasons when he would play every game. Shooting seven shots per game, he led the NBA in field-goal percentage at 59.5%, but more importantly upped his rebounds per game to 9.4. For the first time, he made the All-Defensive 1st Team and finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting. 

That season, the Pistons swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. Rodman had nine double-digit rebounding games in the 17 Piston playoff games in ‘89, including 19 rebounds in Game 3 the Finals (along with 12 points).

The Pistons won again in 1989-90, and Rodman won his first Defensive Player of the Year award while he was named to his first all-star team, completing the regular season with averages of 8.8 points and 9.7 rebounds. Rodman accumulated 40 games of 10 or more rebounds (including the playoffs). On January 19 against the Golden State Warriors, he grabbed 20 rebounds, and would do so again in Game 4 of the Pistons’ Eastern Conference Finals’ series against the Chicago Bulls. 

“I wanted this award so bad,” Rodman said through tears at his press conference where he was honored with the Defensive Player of the Year trophy. Well earned, no doubt. The Eastern Conference and league as a whole was a gauntlet for the rangy, superb athlete. Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, Clyde Drexler, and Magic Johnson, to name a few. 

The Pistons defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in five games in the 1990 Finals. 

In 1990-91, Rodman achieved 10 or more rebounds 65 times, averaging double digits (12.5) for the first time in his career and winning the Defensive Player of the Year award once again. He had three 20-rebound games in the regular season and one in the ‘91 playoffs, grabbing 20 rebounds in Game 5 of the Pistons’ first round series against the Hawks. His season-high in rebounds was 24, on February 13, 1991 against the Indiana Pacers. 

Rodman finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 1991–92, a season that began his stretch of seven consecutive years leading the NBA in rebounding. He also led the league in offensive and defensive rebounds per game from 1991-1996. Rodman averaged 18.7 rebounds per contest in a career-high 40.3 minutes per game for ‘91-‘92. On eight shots per game, he shot 53.9% from the field and averaged 9.8 points. Rodman recorded double-digit rebounds in all but eight games including the playoffs, a remarkable feat. He corralled 20 or more rebounds 39 times, with three games over 30 rebounds including a career-high 34 on March 4, 1992 against the Pacers. He made All-NBA 3rd team, his first of two All-NBA selections in his career (he also made 3rd team in 1995). 

In 1992-93, Rodman finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and averaged 18.3 rebounds per game, reaching double figures in all but four games. He recorded 20 or more rebounds in 29 games, with back-to-back-to-back 26-rebound games from January 8, 1993 to January 11. 

After 50 wins in 1990-91 (ECF loss to the Bulls) and 48 wins in 1991-92 (first round loss to the New York Knicks), winning started to elude the Pistons. Chuck Daly, Rodman’s father figure of a head coach, was replaced by Ron Rothstein for 1992-93 and the Pistons won 40 games and missed the playoffs. Isiah Thomas was in his 11th season as was Mark Aguirre, and Bill Laimbeer in his 12th. 

On October 1, 1993, the Pistons traded Rodman and forward Isaiah Morris to the San Antonio Spurs for forward Sean Elliott and forward David Wood. Rodman arrived in San Antonio with dyed blond hair. He left the clean cut image in Detroit and began to embrace his rebel persona. 

Rodman played two seasons in San Antonio, 1993-94 and 1994-95, averaging 17.3 rebounds and 16.8 rebounds per game. The Spurs won 55 games in 1993-94 and 60 the following season, but lost in the first round to the Utah Jazz in ‘94 and to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals in ‘95. Rodman averaged 16.0 rebounds in the Jazz series and 15.0 in the Rocket series. Including the playoffs, he recorded double-digit rebounds in all but five games in 1993-94, and 20 more rebounds 27 times. On January 22, 1994 against the Dallas Mavericks, he grabbed 32 rebounds. 

Despite the Spurs’ team success, Rodman clashed with head coach Bob Hill and had differences with star teammate David Robinson. On October 3, 1995, Rodman was traded to the Chicago Bulls for Will Purdue. 

With a past history battling the Bulls in seemingly first blood playoff series’, Phil Jackson and Rodman met, with Jackson asking if he’d like to be a Bull. “I don’t give a damn,” replied Rodman according to his own account. Rodman met with Pippen, apologized for all of the hostility and hard fouls of years past, and the two with Michael Jordan went on a historic run of three consecutive championships. 

In the ‘96 Finals, as the Bulls took a 3-0 lead, Rodman at age 34 had 13, 20, and 10 rebounds in the first three games. The Bulls won the series in six games, Rodman getting his third championship. He played 64 games with 57 starts in ‘95-‘96, averaging 14.9 rebounds and making 1st Team All-Defense. 

The following season, Rodman averaged 16.1 rebounds in 54 starts out of 55 games played. He had seven games of double-digit rebounds in the playoffs, including a 19-rebound game in Game 1 of the Bulls’ Eastern Conference Finals series against the Miami Heat. During the regular season, only in one game did he not record double-digit rebounds. His season-high in a campaign in which he grabbed 20 or more rebounds nine times was 26 rebounds on January 10 against the Milwaukee Bucks. 

In 1997-98, Rodman’s rebounding average (15.0) led the league for the final time in his career as he played 80 games with 66 starts. He recorded 20 or more rebounds 16 times that season, with a season best 25 on December 23 against the Los Angeles Clippers. In the playoffs, he recorded double-digits in boards in 15 of the 21 Bull postseason games as he won his fifth and final championship. 

After their final championship season, Michael Jordan retired, Scottie Pippen was dealt to the Houston Rockets in a sign-and-trade, and Rodman signed with the Lakers. Over his final two seasons with the Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks, The Worm started 23 of 35 games played, and at age 37 going on 38 with the Lakers averaged 11.2 rebounds. In his final season, 1999-00, he averaged 14.3 as a Dallas Maverick. His Laker high in rebounds was 20, on March 9 of 1999 against the Clippers. His Maverick high was 21, on March 2 of 2000 against the Nets. 

After retiring from the NBA in 2000, Rodman suited up sparingly in Mexico (two games), Finland (one game in 2005), and Britain (three games in 2006. For 2003-04 and 2005-06, he played for the Long Beach Jam and Orange County Crush of the American Basketball Association. 

Rodman was the most unique of personalities, a player that could somehow party through the night and still go out hours later and grab 15, 20 rebounds. Detroit native Steve Smith recalls Rodman running on the stairmaster after games and says that Rodman’s ability to slide his feet and stay with guards was outstanding. Kevin Garnett remembers Rodman running on a treadmill at high speed in combat boots after a game that was the first of a back-to-back.

“Rodman had the agility to move with any point guard in the 90s,” said Garnett on his KG Certified podcast. “He could slide left to right with anybody.” 

Said Laker opponent James Worthy: “Dennis was a machine in Detroit. He could guard anybody on the floor. He had the psychological games, he’d get in your head.” 

Said Hall of Fame teammate Pippen: “I followed Dennis’ career. I think he was one of the guys that kind of helped motivate me, coming from a small school and knowing that I could make it to the NBA (Pippen attended Central Arkansas)….his basketball IQ is off the charts. When he was able to come and join us with the Chicago Bulls, we not only got the greatest rebounder of all-time, but we got a basketball player that had a very high basketball IQ.” 

His former Spur teammate Robinson had high praise, too. 

“I love Dennis, I really do,” Robinson told Joe Buck in an interview. “He’s an unbelievable player. Incredibly athletic. He was like Superman. Just a freak of nature. Guy could run all day long. Never got tired. He was like the Energizer bunny. I loved having him next to me on the court because you just felt like you got a warrior with you.” 

Former Bull teammate Steve Kerr, on an episode of NBA TV’s Open Court, said: “When you talk about the greatest athletes to ever play in the NBA, I think Dennis Rodman is in that category. When you talk about stamina, to be able to play with that kind of energy night after night, the way he could run.” 

In the lay-up line before games as a Piston, Rodman would not warm up. Instead, he would study the rotations and the bounces off the rim of teammates’ shots, so that he knew when to anticipate the ball for a rebound. Said his Piston teammate Isiah Thomas: “I had never heard anyone talk about rebounding in such a scientific way.” 

Rodman was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011. On March 4, 1996, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated with a headline reading “THE BEST REBOUNDER EVER?”. With 11,954 career rebounds, he ranks 23rd on the NBA’s all-time list. His 13.1 rebounds per game are the 11th-best. His 18.7 per game average in 1991-92 ranks 35th on the all-time list, but is the most the NBA has seen since 1971-72 when Wilt Chamberlain averaged 19.2. The Big Dipper and Bill Russell, in fact, occupy the top 18 rebounding seasons in league history. 

The best rebounder ever? Chamberlain and Russell would like to chime in. But the best of the modern era? A prolific sphere snatcher who could guard any position on the floor with relentless energy and effort? One of the greatest defenders in the history of the league?

You bet. Happy 64th, Dennis Rodman.