Dennis Rodman
Teams
Detroit Pistons - 1986-93
San Antonio Spurs - 1993-95
Chicago Bulls - 1995-98
Los Angeles Lakers - 1998-99
Dallas Mavericks - 1999-00
Playoffs
Appearances - 11 (1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998)
Conference Finals - 9 (1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1995,1996,1997,1998)
NBA Finals - 6 (1988,1989,1990,1996,1997,1998)
Championships - 5 (1989,1990,1996,1997,1998)
Awards and Honors
Defensive Player of the Year - 2 (1990,1991)
All-NBA Third Team - 2 (1992,1995)
Hall of Fame - 2011
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
Rebounds Per Game - #12
Total Rebounds - #24
Field Goal Percentage - #69
League Leads
Rebounds Per Game (#1-1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998, #2-1991)
Total Rebounds (#1-1992,1993,1994,1998, #2-1991,1996, #3-1997)
Field Goal Percentage (#1-1989)
Dennis Rodman took a very unusual route to the NBA, and his path to NBA greatness was even more unusual. He hardly played high school basketball, and was working as a janitor for a couple of years after high school when he had a huge growth spurt. He enrolled at NAIA school Southeast Oklahoma State, where he averaged 25.7 points and 15.7 rebounds per game over 3 seasons, which got the attention of scouts and helped him get drafted in the second round of the 1986 Draft by the Detroit Pistons.
During his first several seasons in the NBA, Rodman was mostly a bench player for the Pistons. They were a great team at the time, reaching at least the Conference Finals in Rodman's first 5 seasons and winning 2 NBA titles, with Rodman an important bench player. He led the league in field goal percentage in 1989 and won the Defensive POY in the next two seasons.
The following season Rodman was shifted to power forward, and he became hyper-focused on rebounding, leading the league in the category that season for the first of 7 straight seasons. His total of 1530 that season was the highest by any player in 20 years, and no other player has come within 250 of that total since.
The next season was a tough one for Rodman. His coach resigned, leaving a huge father-figure void in his life, and his marriage was ending, and the Pistons missed the playoffs for the first time in years. After nearly committing suicide late in the season, Rodman decided to change his persona, and from then on he was known just as much for his technical fouls, suspensions, and ever-changing hair color as for his rebounding prowess.
He demanded a trade after the 1993 season, and was sent away to the San Antonio Spurs, where he joined David Robinson on a very good team. The team thrived during the regular season, but fell short in the playoffs, falling in the first round in 1994 and the Conference Finals in 1995. After multiple incidents and public complaints about every level of the organization, Rodman was traded away to Chicago after 2 years with the Spurs.
He is probably most famous for his time in Chicago, thanks to his role alongside all-time greats Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in helping the Bulls win 3 straight championships, along with a then-record 72 wins in 1996. The rest of his game suffered as he focused on rebounds, averaging less than 6 points per game throughout his time in Chicago, and his field goal percentage dropped lower each season, down to .431 in 1998, more than 16% lower than his league-leading percentage 9 years earlier.
After the Bulls were dismantled following the 1998 championship, Rodman made brief stops in LA and Dallas, both times wearing out his welcome quickly and being cut by each team.
Rodman is the ultimate example of a player who excelled at one part of the game while being below average at nearly everything else. His career free throw percentage was only 58%, he averaged less than 2 assists per game for his career, and finished his career with a scoring average of 7.3 per game, which is higher than only one other player on this list. Even though he was not a great all-around player, he was one of the greatest rebounders of all time, and was a solid player on several title teams, which is enough to earn him a spot among the greatest players of all time.
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