It’s hard to use the word “normal” to describe any part of Dennis Rodman’s life. The five-time NBA Champion didn’t follow the set path that most basketball players follow. He wasn’t a star player in high school. He didn’t go on to start for a Division I school with the hopes of winning an NCAA Champion. He ended up at the draft, but he did it in a completely unique way, a Dennis Rodman way.
Players, coaches and fans have described him in many different ways during his career. Wild is one of them. But also unique, even a genius. Rodman was different than everyone else in every way possible. He got into fights, was constantly fined and suspended. He had his own pre-game routine that was so different than any other player on each of his teams. He was married several times, dated the biggest stars and befriended the strangest of people (and world leaders).
Yet he still spent 14 seasons in the league. He was a two-time All Star, made the All NBA Team twice and the All NBA Defensive Team eight times. He was one of the best rebounders the league has ever seen, averaging 18 rebounds a game in the 1990s. Dennis Rodman was one of the most extraordinary of players to step onto an NBA court, both because of his talent and because of his antics.
Rodman’s life can be split into three parts: before the NBA, during the NBA, and after the NBA, and each shows how he became the person he is today. That unique individual who we can’t decide if to love or hate, who constantly keeps us on our toes and has us asking, what’s next?
His life was anything but ordinary, but one thing is for sure, it definitely keeps us entertained.
[post_page_title]Before the NBA: Childhood[/post_page_title]
Dennis Rodman was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1961. It wasn’t the easiest childhood for him and his family. He, his mother and two sisters were abandoned by his father when he was just a young boy. His mother Shirley then moved the family to Dallas, TX, where she worked odd jobs and several at a time. As a high schooler, Rodman was still relatively short for a basketball player, just 5’9, and was cut from the basketball team.
