With the help of Dennis Rodman, the Chicago Bulls have just won another NBA title, but the wayward star might end up a loser
BASKETBALL:Ian Whittell
EVEN by his own extraordinary standards Dennis Rodman had an extraordinary week. The Chicago Bulls player, cross-dresser and cultural phenomenon, won his fourth NBA Championship, made two much publicised all- night trips to LasVegas with his rock-star friends, and earned a record $50 000 fine by insulting an entire religion. The question is, what does he do for an encore?
The answer may be nothing. The patience of the Bulls – who paid him $9-million this season – of the NBA and, more significantly, of mainstream America has shifted against the 36-year-old in the 12 months since he played a key role in Chicago’s 1996 title win in his first season with the club.
A year ago his unique lifestyle – the dyed hair and body piercing, his penchant for burning the candle at both ends and through the middle, the biography that gave more details of his affair with Madonna than anyone needed to know – was forgiven because of his unique playing style.
In a climate where the premium is on spectacular individual play, Rodman is a throwback. Despite his relatively “small” frame – 2,03m, 99kg – he is the greatest rebounder in the business. He also puts his body on the line, playing tough defence against bigger and stronger players. The only criticism has been that he often eschews scoring points, preferring to do the dirty work for more glamorous team- mates such as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
Rodman’s playing philosophy has not changed; the shift in public opinion derives from his increasingly outrageous behaviour. It started in December when he used expletives in a live television interview after being ejected (not a rare occurrence for him) against Toronto. The Bulls’ owner Jerry Reinsdorf wanted to suspend his player for 10 games but the NBA talked him down to two. Then Rodman lashed out at a court-side cameraman, catching him in the groin and picking up a $25 000 fine, an 11-match ban and a $500 000 out-of-court settlement.
His problems have mounted in the past two months since the publication of his second book, Bad As I Wanna Be. This astonishing sexual tour of Rodman’s life and fantasies – one of the more printable confessions is his wish to change his name to “Orgasm” – earned him another ban from that barometer of mainstream America, the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Now Rodman, despite the Bulls’ 4-2 victory over the Utah Jazz in the NBA finals, may have played the last game of an 11-year career that has included spells with Detroit and San Antonio.
His form was miserable in the opening two home matches, although it scarcely mattered as Chicago won both. When the best-of-seven series moved to the Jazz’s home in Salt Lake City, the centre of the Mormon religion where 60% of the population belong to the Church of Latter Day Saints, Rodman was again anonymous in the Bulls’ game three defeat – and he had an explanation. “It’s difficult to get in sync because of all the fucking Mormons out here. And you can quote me on that.”
This being America, they did. Church groups and the anti-defamation league – although not the Church of LDS itself – were swift to condemn his comments. Rodman’s diminishing band of supporters quoted ignorance in his defence. “To Dennis a Mormon may just be a nickname for people from Utah,” said his coach Phil Jackson. “He may not even know it’s a religious cult or sect or whatever it is.”
But the damage had been done, although by the time the $50 000 fine had been levied and a grudging apology made – “If I knew it was a religious statement I never would have made it” – Rodman had rediscovered some of his form and the Bulls had won the title.
The key to his improvement lay in two trips to Las Vegas with members of the grunge band Pearl Jam; Rodman indulged his penchant for gambling and sleepless nights, the first visit coming immediately after the game four defeat, the other on the eve of the crucial game five win. Although the trips were sanctioned by his management, the media erroneously expected his team- mates to react with indignation.
“I went up to him and said, `Good on yer, mate’,” said his Australian team-mate Luc Longley. “I say get all the toxins back in his body because he plays better for us that way. We need him to be a Toxic Avenger, not the Good Ship Lollipop. He’s done a great job for us all year with all the bad habits he has, then he’s tried to be a choirboy for the past couple of weeks and you’ve seen the result. For all Dennis’s reputation there is nothing he cares more about than basketball.”
Rodman, who is now out-of-contract with the Bulls, even elicited the support of the mighty Jordan, whose contract is also due for renewal. “Sure I want him back,” said Jordan. “His dressing doesn’t bother me. His hair doesn’t bother me. He’s going to go wacko every now and then but we have come to live with that and accept it.”
Jordan may but the Bulls’ management reportedly do not. If, as expected, Rodman is released, neither he nor observers expect him to find another NBA employer. Europe is rumoured to be one possible destination.
“People are going to make sure I don’t come back here,” he said. “I think the NBA are trying to send a message every time they do something with me. If they want to blackball me, fine and dandy, although they could at least tell me to my face. But I take the money, so now I guess I’ll have to run.”