Heading into the vote for the Hall of Fame this year, there was a debate centered around Dennis Rodman and his chances of entering the Hall. I can somewhat see a debate over the validity of his Hall of Fame credentials. There have been many players that were more competent offensively. We always hear accolades for the Big O and his season of averaging a triple-double or there is the constant discussion of the Big Dipper and his 100-point game against the Knicks. In reality, it seems that every player that is within our conscesnius was great offensively. I can recall the images of Jordan flying through the air for a forceful dunk or see Magic Johnson delivering a no-look pass to Worthy on the break. Offensive is glamerous and when players have special abilities, it is transcendent. On the other hand, basketball is not always pretty. In order to win and do it consistently, your team has to be able to rebound and play defense. I'm sure you've all heard the cliche saying of, "Defense wins championships". As a Suns fan, I can attest to this being true. If you can't get stops when it counts or keep the other team off the glass, you simply can't win. Every NBA team needs garbage men to be able to lock the other team down or control the backboards. Dennis Rodman was the best garbage man the league will ever see. That is a complement, I promise.
Let's take a little trip down memory lane. Rodman led the league in rebounding between 91-97. The highest total RPG he averaged over that period was 18.7. This is an unprecendented feat and deserves praise from everybody. Sportscenter lauds a player like Dwight Howard for pulling down 20-boards on occasion but imagine if he did that on a nightly basis. Rodman was to rebounding to what Jordan was to scoring. He was the best of his generation and the best rebounder ever. People can argue all they want about Wilt but he did not have the competition that Rodman faced nightly and Rodman was only 6'7 while doing all of this. He wasn't one dimensional as a rebounder either. He was also named to the all-defensive first team seven times as well. He wasn't a dominant shot blocker or ball thief but he knew how to lock somebody down. He was one of the best man defenders at his position ever. His Bulls and Pistons teams were dominant defensively as a whole but Worm was the best defender towards the tail-end of his Pistons career and was right up there with Jordan and Pippen on those Bulls teams as well. He was capable, in his prime, of covering one through five on the defensive end.
Rodman never had a sexy game but the credentials are there to make the Hall of Fame. He lacked offensive polish but the biggest hurdle for him may be himself. I mean that his odd behavior probably turns off many traditionalists. He was outrageous at times and did public stunts like wearing dresses to book signings or dyed his hair vibrant colors like hot pint or leopard print. In a modern NBA where entertainment is put at the forefront, I don't know why anybody would be turned off by this. You couldn't help but stare and wonder what odd thing he may do next. Deep inside, he was troubled and almost took his own life and it is a miracle that he was able to overcome those personal demons. I don't always agree with his actions but I also knew that he was going through his own struggles. I'm sure he wasn't the easiest teammate in the world to get along with but when the lights turned on, he was always prepared. That is all you can ask for from a teammate and you knew he was going to work hard and give it everything he had every single night.
When the time comes for the Hall of Fame voting next year, I hope that the voters can look beyond the obvious with Dennis Rodman. He was odd and difficult and his game was not conventional. What he was was the best rebounder ever and he was also one of the best defenders ever as well. Dunks and points get you on Sportscenter but the work in the trenches gets you rings. Is it a coincidence that the Worm has 5 rings? One can argue that he played on great teams that aided him to this but that would also discredit a player who had unique gifts. There will never be another Dennis Rodman and if you haven't seen him play, do yourself a favor and watch some old tapes. He was an artist on the glass and played as hard as anybody ever will. No matter how crazy he acted, he always gave a damn. It's about time somebody recognized this and gave him his rightfull place in the Hall of Fame.
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