1) Dennis Rodman is a retired professional basketball player who played for the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA.
2) Dennis was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and finished out his NBA career with 5 NBA championships (2 with the Detroit Pistons and 3 with the Chicago Bulls) and led the league in rebounding for an astounding seven seasons in a row from 1992-1998.
3) Dennis Rodman is know as "The Worm," a nickname given to him by his mother as he twisted and turned like a worm while playing pinball as a child.
J: What is your favorite memory of your time with the Chicago Bulls?
Dennis Rodman: Probably winning the three championships with the Bulls.
J's Follow Up: I don't think there's anything better than that. Winning a championship is a special thing that doesn't happen often. I bet playing for the Bulls was his favorite.
J: What was your favorite part about becoming a professional wrestler?
Dennis Rodman: Wrestling with Hulk Hogan against the Macho Man at Sturgis. That was fun.
J's Follow Up: That sounds fun. I'm gonna try and see if I can find a way to watch it. I like Macho Man for sure and I'd like to meet Hulk Hogan and ask him if he remembers wrestling in that match.
Dennis Rodman: Probably Shaquille O'Neal.
D's Follow Up: Shaq is a really big guy and he was really good at basketball. He blocked shots and dunked a lot.
Dennis Rodman: No, that didn't hurt. I practiced that move a lot in practice, so no it didn't hurt.
D's Follow Up: That would hurt me for sure. It looks like he was playing really hard.
On Sunday August 19th, we made the short trip to Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills to meet Hall of Fame basketball player Dennis "The Worm" Rodman. My Fan Cave, located on the lower level near JC Penney, hosted the signing with the NBA great and our entire family got to take part in the fun. There were over 100 in attendance to meet one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
We were ticket number three and we were VIP for the afternoon, which meant we got to take a posed picture and also receive an autograph from "The Worm." By basketball terms, Dennis was of average height at 6' 7", but when we came face to face, he was larger than life and towered over the four of us. Dennis was upbeat throughout the event and happy to answer the boys' questions.
Danny was up first and forgot his original question...then the next time up Dennis asked him if he remembered his first question. The two laughed about it and we all thought it was a cool moment between them. Jordan loves wrestling and wanted to make sure he asked him about his time in the WCW. We recently watched his match against Karl Malone and Jordan was mesmerized.
Of course, we were not surprised by his response when he said Shaq was the toughest player he ever played against. At 7' 1" and 326 pounds, Shaq was one of the most physically dominating and imposing players to ever play the game. It was always entertaining to watch the two of them go head to head.
It was a rare appearance in Chicago for Dennis and we were so fortunate to meet him so close to home. The '96, '97, and '98 Bulls were my favorite teams of all time and I'm grateful to have been there with my family to meet one of my favorite players of all time.
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