Once the NBA’s wild child, Dennis Rodman has his generous share of having a wild night with his friends. Be it the time he jetted off to Las Vegas for 48 hours during the 1998 NBA Finals or his WWE shebang with Hulk Hogan, ‘The Worm’ had a rather different idea of fun.
As such, the former Bulls rebounding presence had a riveting story to share about his hangover game in 1994 when he was part of the San Antonio Spurs. And surprisingly, the tale came with his own admission that he had a little too much to drink.
“Phoenix in March of 1994, when I was with the San Antonio Spurs. The night before our game against the Suns, Bryne Rich and I and a couple of women went out and got bombed,” he wrote in his book Walk on the wild side.
“Charles Barkley, who played for the Suns at the time, was at the bar, too, but he didn’t really get too crazy and went home a long time before us. We were doing these disgusting “Sex on the Beach” shots, a sweet mixture of various liquors, and the party sort of continued into the wee morning hours. When I got up to go to the shootaround, EVERYONE ON MY TEAM WAS LIKE, ‘GOD DAMN, YOU STINK LIKE A BREWERY.’ I had the worst hangover in the world.”
Such was the state the Rodman was in that even Barkley had come up and asked him if he was okay during the game.
“The fans were screaming and the music was blasting and the horn was blaring and there was nothing I could do—I just had to make it through. Then there was the matter of the lights. They were too bright and hurt my eyes. Barkley looked at me and said, ‘What the fuck did you do last night?’ He knew damn well what I did.”
But it was very Rodman-like to have a switch that brought him back to himself, and the forward had a good game. “It was a struggle, and I felt like s**t. But the more I played, the better it got. And it turned out I was able to overcome—I had a pretty damn good game. I had 13 points and 15 rebounds, and we were winning ‘by so much that I sat out the entire fourth quarter.'”
Overall, Rodman averaged 5.6 points, 17.1 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in his 128 games for the Spurs. His defensive prowess remained intact and carried over to his time with the Bulls. So, even if he was indeed hungover, he didn’t let that stop him from grabbing those rebounds.
Dennis Rodman Had A Tumultuous Time With The San Antonio Spurs
By the time he moved from the Detroit Pistons, Rodman had already made a name for himself as one of the top defenders in the NBA. Despite that sterling reputation, his time with the Spurs lasted for only two seasons, and he was apparently hated by Gregg Popovich during that time.
“That’s when Gregg Popovich was the GM. He didn’t like me at all,” Rodman said. “I wasn’t the church-going guy, and David Robinson called me the devil. I said, okay, man, whatever. I said you didn’t pay me to be f***ing nice. You paid me to f***ing win. I love David. He’s a good guy, but Popovich wanted me to get out of there so bad, and he traded me to Chicago for Will Perdue straight up.”
However, his move from the Spurs was a blessing as he was a seamless fit alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in Chicago. He averaged 5.2 PPG, 15.3 RPG, and 2.8 APG with the Bulls and was instrumental in their three-peat.
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