Dennis Rodman will go down as one of the most controversial players in league history as he was largely involved in a ton of extracurricular activities. Once during the 1998 NBA Finals, Rodman skipped practice to make an appearance in a wrestling match.
While Rodman is known to be a highly controversial person, he was one of the greatest rebounders the league ever saw. It was more impressive coming from him because he was not the most dominant or biggest man on the court. He stood at 6’7″ and weighed only 210 pounds.
Regardless, Rodman was able to grab rebounds against some of the league’s best big men and create opportunities for second chance buckets on the offensive glass. In Michael Jordan’s documentary, The Last Dance, he revealed that there was a science to his rebounding. He talked about watching the shot and quickly calculating where the ball is likely to land if the player misses, and he takes position there to give himself the best chance before other players react.
You could say Rodman is the best role player, as he never struggled to get points on the board. He knew his specialty was rebounding and defending, and he did those to the best of his ability.
During the 1993-94 season, one of the rare years he was not playing for the Detroit Pistons or Chicago Bulls, he had an incredible run worth noting. In games 4 and 5 of the news season, he grabbed 25 and 24 rebounds, respectively, without registering a single point on the scoresheet. In both games, he had only one attempt from the field and did not convert.
In game 15, he went on to grab 28 boards, also not getting on the scoreboard. On this occasion, he had five field-goal attempts, with one from beyond the arc.
Rodman is an incredible talent, and there is a chance we will never see another Rodman. In the last 40 seasons, no one has dominated the glass as well as Rodman. He won seven consecutive rebounding titles from 1992-1998.
The Worm also had a very successful NBA career, winning five NBA championships, two Defensive Player of the Year awards, and making the NBA 75th anniversary team. He also made two All-Star appearances in his 14-year career and 8 All-Defensive teams.
Credit for an idea: Best Hoops/Instagram
