By Joe Parello @HerewegoJoe
Dennis Rodman is one of the most underrated players in NBA history, and man, is the guy a character.
I mean, seriously, he made the interview I did with controversial slugger Jose Canseco last year look tame. Neither ended well, as Canseco gave me the stink-eye for asking about Roger Clemens and steroids, and "The Worm" hung up on Bob Lobel and I after Bob asked him to discuss his role in the famous Larry Bird interception of Isiah Thomas during the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals.
By the way, I was less than six-months old when that happened, so hearing these guys argue about it was pretty amusing.
"He's one of the most underrated players, but one of the most overrated interviews," Lobel said after Rodman hung up.
The interview started out fine enough after we were told, in no uncertain terms, to avoid the topic of North Korea. Oh, and after Dennis finally got out of bed. My first question to Dennis was about the upcoming NBA Finals (Since, again, we were told to stick to basketball). His response was that he didn't care. He later said some girl was calling him and something I couldn't understand about having sex with girls...
So much for sticking to basketball.
The interview ended with Rodman hanging up after Lobel asked him about his involvement in one of the most famous plays in NBA history (Again, basketball question), but here are some of the finer points I pulled from a largely nonsensical 10 minutes with Rodzilla.
On current Spurs coach Gregg Popovich:"(Popovich) hated my guts, I don't know why… We had the best record in the league for two years (When Rodman played in San Antonio), but then he had the nerve to trade my ass."
On How He Would Fare in Today's NBA: If I was young (today), I would average maybe, rebound-wise, I would average around 20 rebounds a game."
On a side note, I actually believe Rodman on this one. The guy averaged nearly 20 rebounds per 48 minutes (19.9), the best mark in NBA history. I have to think The Worm in his prime could average 20 boards a game for at least one season in the modern NBA.
On the Young Talent in the League: "Most of these young guys here today are stupid."
I asked Rodman to expand upon this and he changed the subject to his upcoming Sports Illustrated cover.
On the Michael Jordan vs LeBron James Argument: "You think LeBron is better than Michael, no… Michael had a swag, Michael had a style."
On Jordan's Supporting Cast vs LeBron's Supporting Cast: "Guess what, Dywane Wade is not nowhere near Scottie Pippen."
On… Well, race-baiting, I guess: "If you had to pick a one-two punch, who would you pick, Jordan-Pippen or Dywane and LeBron… I hope your listeners are listening to this. Either way, they're all black."
I have embedded the entire interview below. I would recommend listening to it, because even all the quotes I listed above don't do the insanity justice. The interview was a train wreck for all the right reasons, and I'm going to have to disagree with my distinguished colleague Bob Lobel: I think Rodman was a terrific interview.
A little out there, but always entertaining.
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