Countless athletes have competed throughout the NBA’s illustrious history, but few are arguably as unique as Dennis Rodman. The Hall of Famer was known not only for his aggressive playing style, but also for his eccentric lifestyle off the court. Many of his former teammates and on-court rivals have spoken openly about playing against him and getting to know him as a person. As you might expect, some of these stories are a little wild. However, Shaquille O’Neal just told a story about Rodman not showering after playing basketball, and I can never forget it.
Shaquille O’Neal and his The big podcast Co-host Adam Lefkoe recently interviewed Allen Iverson on an episode of the show. During the episode, Shaq and AI laid out who would be the perfect players of their era to back them up in a starting lineup, with O’Neal reluctantly choosing Dennis Rodman as the ideal power forward. The self-proclaimed GOAT of athlete-rappers, who briefly played with Rodman as the Los Angeles Lakers, then told his wild story about his old teammate’s alleged hygiene habits:
This guy came in — the (team) meeting is at 5:30, you have to be there at 5:30. … He came in with 40 minutes on the clock, eating chicken and rice and not paying attention. In the middle of the meeting, he took a cold shower and not paying attention. We went out first (in the game), then he came out, gave you 25 rebounds and smelled like a (swear word). (He) got dressed and went to the club and was surrounded and kissed by the worst women I’ve ever seen in his life.
Now, if all of this is true (and I wouldn’t expect Shaquille O’Neal to lie), this all sounds… unsanitary. I mean, seriously, the idea of someone playing a rough game and not getting in the shower afterward and getting it on with the ladies is disgusting (no basketball pun intended). The hint of disgust in O’Neal’s voice – which you can hear when you watch this YouTube Clip – is definitely obvious. And when Adam Lefkoe asked him if he had overshadowed “The Worm” a bit because of his luck with the ladies, Shaq made his disdain clear:
That motherfucker stank – he smelled like water from a garbage truck and there were models in the club standing across from him. I was a party guy, I threw a few parties. But I never saw what I saw with Dennis Rodman.
Seriously, some of the stories told about the heavily tattooed and pierced Dennis Rodman have become legendary. Some of them were even documented in the docuseries The Last Dance (which featured a Netflix subscription). One of the most infamous stories is Rodman’s 48-hour trip to Las Vegas – which he made during the 1998 NBA Finals! When his ex-wife – the seemingly timeless Carmen Electra – as the document explains, Rodman’s former Chicago Bulls teammate Michael Jordan had to come and pick him up.
The former Defensive Player of the Year was (and still is) eccentric, although he could play basketball, which is why he has five NBA championship rings to his name. It is also interesting to hear him talk about his own experiences and comment on basketball-related topics. In recent years, I have enjoyed hearing him talk about the Differences between Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippenwho expressed particularly high praise. “Dennis the Menace” also said shortly afterwards Pippen and Jordan would settle their disputewhich has been going on for several years now.
I’m not sure I feel any better knowing that a shower apparently wasn’t part of Dennis Rodman’s typical post-game routine. Nonetheless, it’s another surprising detail about someone who can be considered one of the most entertaining characters in all of sports. Now, I would love to see Rodman and Shaquille O’Neal have a private conversation sometime, and I really hope that happens.
