For most teams who had an interest in Dennis Rodman during his prime, the immediate answer would be because of his defense and rebounding. However, “The Worm” also had a special talent that opposing players dreaded – the mind game.
Already known for displaying uncanny behavior, riddling his body with tattoos, and endlessly dying his hair, Rodman was a tough player to handle. Hence, it all boiled down to how a coach or manager could handle the seven-time rebounding champion.
Given his demeanor, Dennis racked up quite a list of victims. At the top of it are the likes of Alonzo Mourning of the Miami Heat and Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz. Both were not scared to mix it up with the 27th overall pick of the 1986 Draft if necessary. But the thing there is that it was exactly what Rodman wanted them to do.
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Rodman’s mind games
Mourning and Malone were not the only ones to fall prey to Rodman’s antics. There were players like Antonio Davis of the Indiana Pacers and Frank Brickowski who were left agog when they got entangled with the 6-foot-7 forward.
For Davis, an incident with Rodman happened in the last game of the regular season of 1998. Both got entangled, and Dennis put Antonio’s hand over his head.
The Southeastern Oklahoma State product then told him to waltz with him, which the Pacers forward initially thought was funny. But later on, he realized that the New Jersey native was mocking him and got mad. The worst part is that the UTEP product ended up thinking of that instance, throwing him off his game.
As for Brickowski, he made the mistake of engaging Rodman with his mind games when the Seattle Supersonics faced the Bulls in the 1996 NBA Finals. Rodman had just made headlines after marrying himself in a wedding dress as a publicity stunt.
“You've got nice-looking legs," Rodman said in response to Brickowski who was questioning his manhood via the New York Times . " Would you like to go out with me after the game?”
The Sonics vs. Rodman's mind games
On the floor, Brickowski would get it on with Rodman as well and would be ejected twice courtesy of Rodzilla. Aside from Brick, other Sonics players grew frustrated about Rodman’s antics. In fact, according to Shawn Kemp, the whole team was bothered by his mind games , which helped the Bulls win it all in the 1996 Finals.
Like him or love him, Dennis the Menace had his way of getting the job done on and off the court. He may have done it oddly and uncannily, but there were teams that took a chance on him and succeeded.
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