3 takeaways from episodes 9 and 10 of The Last Dance, ESPN’s MJ doc
3. The complexities of Dennis Rodman on display once again
If there were any more examples needed to show off the character that is Dennis Rodman, The Last Dance did it once again.
It’s still hard to comprehend any player on either side missing practice before a crucial Game 4 of the NBA Finals — not that all games in the championship round aren’t crucial — to attend World Championship Wrestling in another state.
Granted, the wresting event was a short plane ride from Chicago to Michigan. Still, any player not named Dennis Rodman would get obliterated by media and teammates alike. But, as we’ve come to see, that’s simply who Rodman was.
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Dennis Rodman skipped a media session the day before Game 4 of the 98 NBA Finals and was fined $20,000.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 18, 2020
He instead was paid $250,000, plus use of a private jet, to appear at a WCW show.
When he returned, his teammate Ron Harper said "I think that makes him a good businessman." pic.twitter.com/fK1hxZaQcH
What made Rodman special is how his play on the court never wavered, always a defensive pest and a roamer around the glass. MJ knew it. Phil knew it. It’s why neither bothered Rodman for fear of how it might spit back in their face, knowing full well Dennis needed significantly more leeway than others.
Rodman might’ve always given 100 percent of what he had in the tank. The question was always how much of his tank was full heading into a game after doing who-knows-what the night before?
Sure enough, there was Rodman in Game 4 with 14 rebounds — seven at each end — in 29 minutes off the bench. The notoriously poor free-throw shooter even went 6-of-8 from the stripe including two makes to extend Chicago’s lead to four with under a minute left.
Was it always a stress-free ride dealing with Rodman? Of course not, but the Bulls knew what they were getting into. Because as history has shown us, they had the perfect system in place to manage every which way it pulled them.