Dennis Keith Rodman was born May 13, 1961, in Trenton, New Jersey, and is known first as a professional basketball player with exceptional defensive and rebounding skills and second as a controversial media icon. He's also taken on roles in several movies and had some success in his acting career. He entered the NBA in 1986, listed as 6'8" (though many will argue he is actually 6'6"), and played one of the most physical positions in the sport, the power forward. He is considered the top rebounder in his basketball generation. His given nicknames were "Dennis the Menace" and "Worm", the latter of which was earned for his tendency to squirm when playing pinball. Rodman actually grew up in Dallas and never would have considered basketball as a career. However, in his late teens, he grew nearly a foot in a single year, and, after attending Cooke County College in Gainesville, Texas, for a time, he began playing for Southeastern Oklahoma State University, an NAIA school. He was drafted by the Pistons and played for them until he was found in his pickup truck in the team's parking lot with a loaded shot gun late one night during the 1992-93 season. During the off season, he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs. In one of his two autobiographies, Rodman refers to this as the night he killed the old Dennis and let his new self come forward. |
