Dennis Rodman: One of a Kind, On and Off the Court

Dennis Rodman. It seems that everyone has a different reaction to this hard working, determined man.

I think he should go down as one of the best players to play. Although he was never the best on his team, he sacrificed his body for his team on the court. The best rebounder ever to play the game of basketball.

Standing at a mere 6’7” inches, he won seven, yes seven, rebounding titles... in a row. He managed to average 18.7 rebounds, no typo, while playing in every game during the 1992 season. The last phenom to do that was the Giant Wilt the Stilt.

How did Rodman do it? Heart.

He played every single game like there was more then just a win at stake. An average NBA player takes one or two dives in the stands throughout a season. Dennis did that every day; if there was a stat for number of times a player dove to save the ball, his would be as unbreakable as 100 points.

He’s a five-time NBA champion, probably a surprise to most people. In college, he averaged 26 points and 16 rebounds, and he made 64 percent of his shots, too.

Today, he would be covered daily by ESPN, one of the top prospects for the draft. He drifted down to 27th in a weak 1986 draft. Though he barely got off the bench his rookie year with 15 minutes a game, all he wanted to do every time he stepped on the court was help his team win.

He recognized (smartly) that scoring was not his game and never took more then eight shots per game in a season. To give you an idea of how much that is, when watching a Laker game, Rodman shot the ball as much as you see Jordan Farmar shoot throughout the game.

His game was recognized after 10 years in the league by Sports Illustrated (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/9524/index.htm), but all you hear about him is his hair, fanatics off the court such as claiming to be bi-sexual, and marrying himself, when there is so much more.

Most would think of him and his actions to be weird. I think of it as personality; he was more himself then anyone else on this planet. Let his game be remembered.

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