For two seasons, NBA legends Dennis Rodman and David Robinson were teammates on the San Antonio Spurs.
And according to Jack Haley, who played with Rodman and Robinson, Rodman didn’t respect Robinson.
“Dennis had a real problem in his respect for David Robinson as a player,” Haley said in Roland Lazenby’s book Blood On the Horns: The Long Strange Ride of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. “He had problems with David’s intensity and work ethic in practice. One thing about Dave: Dave could be the most talented player and athlete in the NBA. … Therefore, he’s not a big practice guy. Not a big work ethic guy. By [January], Dave would have sat out 30 practices. It’s tendinitis. It’s, ‘I’m sore today.’ Whatever it was, Dennis is a practice guy, and it didn’t sit well with Dennis. That caused a lot of problems…
“Dave tried everything … imaginable to bond with Dennis Rodman, to get through with Dennis Rodman to form a friendship. I’m good friends with Dennis and I’m good friends with Dave. Dave would ask me, ‘Why don’t the three of us go to lunch? Why don’t we sit down and try to talk?’ He would try to talk to Dennis about basketball to form a bond. Dennis wouldn’t respond. Dave is very religious. He felt that part of his quest was to get through to Dennis Rodman on a religious level, to try to turn his life around. That didn’t work out at all.”
The Spurs traded Rodman to the Chicago Bulls in 1995 and Robinson was thrilled about the move.
The Bulls benefited immensely by adding Rodman, one of the best rebounders in NBA history. Chicago won three straight championships and went 72-10 in 1995-96.
Rodman averaged 5.2 points and 15.3 rebounds with the Bulls, who beat the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals and the Utah Jazz in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals.
Rodman won three straight rebounding titles in Chicago.
The Bulls won three NBA titles before acquiring Rodman. However, Rodman said in “The Last Dance” docuseries that Chicago wouldn’t have won three more rings without him.
“You got the great Michael Jordan, the great Scottie Pippen, the great Phil Jackson, but if you take me away from this team, do they still win a championship? I don’t think so,” Rodman said in The Last Dance. “I love Michael Jordan to death. I love Scottie Pippen, all these guys, but they really don’t do the things that I do. I’m the only guy who does all the dirty work, taking abuse from other players. I wanna go out there and get my nose broke. I wanna get cut. Something that’s gonna really just bring out the hurt, the pain. I wanna feel that.”