They didn’t have a problem with me being wild and crazy when it came time to fill the arenas.
Dennis Rodman
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ESPN 30 for 30
Anybody who’s been a nothing their whole life, anybody who’s been bullied, anybody who has been that guy that people make fun of because of the way they look, because of the way they dress, because they don’t have any money...
Imagine going through that for 26 years and then one day waking up and you’re one of the greatest players in the NBA.
Tom Wilson President, Detroit Pistons 1978-2010 3
Pat Rich
Rodman’s Oklahoma caretaker
ESPN 30 for 30
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2
I was telling Dennis and Byrne what they could and couldn’t do. He said, you know Ms. Rich, you have a big mouth. That kind of ticked me off a little.
Pat Rich - On using racial slur in argument with Dennis Rodman
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ESPN 30 for 30
And I said, okay, nigger... you’re going to have to watch your mouth.
She thought it was just a friend of mine and he gets out of the car, this big 6’8” black guy. She’s like who is this? They were expecting somebody my age, and here comes Worm, 20 years old and I’m 12. It was weird. It was very weird for them. 6
Byrne Rich
-On bringing home Rodman for dinner
Bokchito, OK
ESPN 30 for 30
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Debra Rodman
Rodman’s younger sister
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Southeastern Oklahoma State
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James Rich
Rodman’s Oklahoma caretaker
Dennis had to have a whole lot of love and a whole lot of assurances, but man that’s exhausting because I had two other kids I couldn’t neglect and he never understood that.
Shirley Rodman 9
Rodman’s mother
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Lonn Reisman Assistant Coach, Southeastern Oklahoma State
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Lance Weeks Southeastern Oklahoma State teammate
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ESPN 30 for 30
There were some things that took place outside of the basketball gym that were painful for him to deal with. Maybe they were challenging to his mental health or psyche. Dennis was a guy that liked to be welcomed. It would’ve been a painful thing, if somebody felt bad toward him just because of the color of his skin.
Peter Ginopolis Ball boy, Detroit Pistons 1983-1990
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ESPN 30 for 30
He befriended me at 13 years old and I thought it was the coolest thing that this professional athlete wanted to hang out with me. Literally after the first game he asked me “where’s the nearest arcade?” I jumped in his Mustang and we drove to this arcade.
You expect somebody at 26 to have a certain level of maturity.
Dennis was extraordinarily shy. Extraordinarily, painfully shy. Most of his friends were 14, 15, 16-year-old kids. It was always sort of a head scratcher. ESPN 30 for 30
Tom Wilson President, Detroit Pistons 1978-2010
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Terry Foster Detroit Free Press
ESPN 30 for 30
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Bill Laimbeer
Center, Detroit Pistons 1986-1993
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John Salley
Power forward, Detroit Pistons 1986-1991
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Mike Abdenour
Athletic Trainer, Detroit Pistons 1975-1991, 1995-current
ESPN 30 for 30
Detroit, MI 16
John Lucas Head Coach, San Antonio Spurs 1994-1995
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ESPN 30 for 30
David and I would fight and have conversations over the phone about Dennis. And I said, David, you know the difference between religiosity and spirituality? Religiosity is for those folks who are scared to go to hell. Spirituality is for those of us who have been there. Keep an open mind.
He didn’t have any respect for anybody on the team.
Bob Hill Head Coach, San Antonio Spurs 1995-1996 18
ESPN 30 for 30
He was not afraid to be different. He was not afraid to speak his mind. He was not afraid to break a rule. He was his own man. I brought him to my room. And I was really anxious to meet him and discuss what he felt about our team. And he went right down the roster and killed every one of our players.
He might come in to the locker room for two weeks straight and never say a word. Did it seem like Dennis didn’t respect his teammates? Yes. There’s no question. 19
David Robinson
It was just hard to find out what made the guy tick. It was hard to get to know him. It was hard to be friends with him. He just didn’t seem to have any desire to do the normal things that a new player would want to do. He just didn’t want to know anybody.
They tried. God knows they tried. ESPN 30 for 30
Tom Orsborn San Antonio Express
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David Moore
Dallas Morning News
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San Antonio Express
ESPN 30 for 30
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Dr. Todd Boyd USC Professor Study of Race and Popular Culture
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People flock to him. He used to say he was black Jesus. He was everything. He was more than just basketball.
ESPN 30 for 30
He was rock ‘n roll.
George Triantafillo Rodman’s bodyguard 1994-2002
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He was crushed when she opened the box and didn’t like it.
Tim Keown Author, ‘Bad as I Wanna Be’
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ESPN 30 for 30
He didn’t know how to be a father. One time I was with him when he was trying to buy a gift for Alexis’ 6th birthday. He didn’t have any idea. A girl that age wants a bike or something. He ended up getting her jewelry.
ESPN 30 for 30
Most everybody is ill-equipped to handle fame and especially, you know, the fame that came to Dennis.
Sam Smith Author, The Jordan Rules
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ESPN 30 for 30
We used to frequent a show lounge called The Baton. It was a female impersonator drag club. Most of the people who worked there were trans-gender women. But he loved going there. Dennis becoming the flamboyant, colorful Dennis didn’t start off as a marketing thing. It became marketable, but that wasn’t the original intent. It was Dennis. But there was some negativity.
One time he came out and somebody painted ‘faggot’ on his truck. That really tore him up.
Larry Brown Friend 26
ESPN 30 for 30
Dwight Manley Agent 1994-1998
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Rick Terlander
Chicago Sun Times
Chris Connelly
MTV Personality 1996-2005
Bob Greene
Chicago Tribune Columnist 28
ESPN 30 for 30
Kelly Davis
Bodyguard 1994-2002
drank 17 kamikazes. 17. That would kill any normal human being. That’s when I knew there was a problem.
Phil Jackson Head Coach, Chicago Bulls 1987-1998
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ESPN 30 for 30
Jerry Buss told me once that he was in Las Vegas with Dennis before he signed him to the Lakers, and over the course of a couple hours he
ESPN 30 for 30
Steve Johnson Chicago Tribune Entertainment Columnist
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ESPN 30 for 30
I learned more about marketing and PR from Dennis Rodman than almost any other human being in my life.
How we manipulated the media. It was incredible.
Mark Cuban Mavericks Owner 2000-Present
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Most Valuable Pussy.”
Michael Silver Author, ‘A Walk on the Wild Side’ -On Rodman’s feelings about David Robinson’s performance in the 1995 WCF
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ESPN 30 for 30
After the Western Conference Finals loss, I was the first one Dennis saw outside of the locker room. And he said, “you know who the real MVP is? David Robinson.
ESPN 30 for 30
Imagine this. You’re 22 years old and you don’t have traction in anything- not in basketball or in life. Then 10 years later you’re dating the most famous and iconic pop star on the planet.
Can you even imagine how mind blowing that must have been?
Dan Bickley Author, ‘No Bull: The Unauthorized Biography of Dennis Rodman’
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Wendell Williams
Darren Prince
Bodyguard 2002-08
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Agent 2002-Present
ESPN 30 for 30
Michelle Moyer
ESPN 30 for 30
Ex-Wife 2003-2009
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ESPN 30 for 30
Tragedy sells. Weirdness sells. If Dennis Rodman was just this hard-working guy, people wouldn’t care. He would just be a distant memory.
Terry Foster Detroit Free Press
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