Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan finally squashed their long-standing beef in 2026, and now two other Hall of Famers have done so as well. Dennis Rodman and Alonzo Mourning appear to have crossed paths at the Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony, and Chris Webber shared a wholesome clip on Instagram of the two greats warmly greeting each other.
“Power Forward Summit,” Webber wrote. “What’s Beef? Zo and Dennis haven’t shook hands in almost 30 years.”
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Kevin Garnett can also be heard saying, “bury that s***, man,” and they have indeed buried the hatchet. You love to see it.
Now, Rodman was definitely very easy to hate during his career. He was an agitator and certainly managed to get under Mourning’s skin. Former NBA player John Salley once shared how he told the big man that Rodman found him cute during a game between the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat. He was, of course, just messing with him in an attempt to get him off his game.
Rodman then got to work. According to Salley, he told Mourning, “Look at those calves, calves are great, how’d you get calves like that?” Rodman’s strategy worked, as you can see in the clip below.
“He’s crazy,” Mourning appeared to say. “You’re a sick man. You a sick individual. You a sick motherf***er.”
Dennis Rodman flirting with Alonzo mourning at the free throw line, complimenting his rear end
Alonzo: “You a sick motherf***er” 😭 pic.twitter.com/6TebdxDEq5
— CrossedSports (@crossedsportsig) December 29, 2021
Rodman and Mourning also famously got into a scuffle during Game 4 of the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals between the Bulls and the Heat. They were wrestling on the floor and had to be separated. After the game, Rodman couldn’t resist throwing a jab at Mourning.
“I’m a smart guy,” Rodman said, via The Oklahoman. “I’m not the guy out there making $100 million. He’s out there trying to poke my eyes out. He’s just a young kid. He doesn’t know how to play the game of basketball.”
Rodman repeatedly provoked Mourning on and off the court, which meant there was always tension in the air when they faced off. There’s a nearly 30-minute-long video on YouTube of heated moments between them.
Rodman also called Mourning a $17 million punk after he had elbowed Jordan and Scottie Pippen during a Bulls-Heat game in 1998. There was absolutely no love lost between them.
Rodman would end up with bragging rights over Mourning. He went 11-7 against him in the regular season and 7-1 in the playoffs. Rodman might have rubbed that in at times as well.
Now, it might have been hard to imagine back then that a day would come when Rodman and Mourning mended fences. They say time heals all wounds, though, and that is the case here.
