For those of you who aren't professional basketball fans, let me introduce you to one of the very best rebounders in the history of the game, on any level. Dennis Keith Rodman was by far one of the most dynamic of the board-men to have ever played the game. Rodman lead the National Basketball Association in rebounding five times during his 14 year professional career.
A top defender, he was voted the league's top defensive player twice, emerging as one of the top rebounders of all-time during the latter part of his career. Playing the bulk of his career with the Detroit Pistons, his last two years with the Motown club, he established rebounding averages of 18.7 and 18.3 per game, both marks club records.
Rodman was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1961, he came from a troubled and unhappy childhood, his father abandoning the family when he was 3. His mother moved her family of 3 to the Dallas, Texas area where Rodman grew up. Rodman's two sisters, Debra and Kim were considered better basketball players then Dennis, routinely knocking his sox's off in pick-up games. Debra was an all-American at Louisiana Tech, while Kim was the same at Stephen F. Austin.
His basketball career in high school did not give any forewarning of the basketball player that he would become, there wasn't any. Rodman couldn't even hit a layup, he was a 5'6" non-athletic type and was devastated that he made neither the football or basketball teams. However a year out of high school and Rodman had a growth spurt of a little more then a foot and a buddy tipped off the Cooke County College in Gainesville, Texas.
At Gainesville, Rodman was the schools top scorer and it's leading rebounder. Sadly the worm lasted little more then a single semester before he flunked out due to poor academic performances. Rodman transferred to Southeastern Oklahoma State University were he was a three time All-American, would average 25.7 points a game and 15.7 rebounds.
A pro career followed in which he would achieve 5 league titles, two with the Pistons and 3 with the Chicago Bulls. He closed out his professional career in the N.B.A. in 1999-2000 with a 12 game stint with the Dallas Mavericks where he averaged more then 14 boards a game.
Dennis Rodman seems to have come full circle, electric marriages, antics on the court as well as off, a man known for different hair colors, body piercings and tattoos, he was enshrined into the N.B.A.'s hall of fame as a fitting tribute to his ability and impact on the game. He has had his jersey retired and been an inspiration to many basketball players, that effort can pay dividends.
Now comes the highest honor that could possibly be bestowed on the rebounding machine, the worm, the man whom many man know as simply "Dennis the Menace." He will have his number 10 jersey retired by the Gentleman's Club, a strip club in New York city. Other big top sports stars sneak around and go in the back door to their favorite strip joints, you Dennis never did. You walked right in the front door, big as life with your multi colored hair and sat right down with the babe of your choice. Congrats big boy.
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