Dennis Rodman took a two-day vacation to Las Vegas during the 1998 Chicago Bulls season but was late to get back. Michael Jordan himself had to go get him
The 1997-98 season was a stressor on just about everyone in the Chicago Bulls organization, but perhaps moreso Dennis Rodman than anyone else.
Rodman was leaned on by Michael Jordan throughout the season as his number two while the team waited on Scottie Pippen to return from injury and sift through his trade demands with Jerry Krause.
Though it looked like at one point Pippen would not play with the Bulls at all in the ’98 season, he eventually would move past his trade demands and return to the team.
It took Rodman an extreme amount of effort to be a consistent number two for Jordan. Knowing the requirements and responsibility, Rodman was a “model citizen” according to Jordan’s commentary in Episode 3 of The Last Dance.
When Pippen returned, though, Rodman needed an escape. The responsibility, the having to walk the straight and narrow for the betterment of the team, it wore on Rodman. He needed a vacation, and he requested one from Phil Jackson and the Bulls.
Rodman and the Bulls agreed to a 48-hour vacation, he went off to Las Vegas and let loose.
Problem was, Rodman was late to get back, going beyond the 48-hour agreement.
Who went to get him? None other than Michael Jordan.
"“I’m not gonna say what was in his bed, where he was,” Jordan said on Episode 4 on The Last Dance"
Jordan, the leader of the team, of course, had to be the one to go get him.
The Bulls and Phil Jackson specifically would spend the next several practices working to get Rodman back into shape, detoxing his body of the heavy drinking depicted in Episode 4 of The Last Dance.
Of course, if you think of Jordan pulling Rodman back from vacation, you probably think of him giving him a ring. “Hey, Dennis, hope vacation was swell. Can you come back now?”
The picture of MJ literally dragging Rodman out of bed (oh, and by the way, Rodman’s girlfriend, Carmen Electra was hiding in the room) is just nuts. But, there’s a reason this team got a 10-part documentary.