A great party animal in front of the Eternal, Dennis Rodman left some gruesome memories with his teammates when he was at his peak. It was obviously during the Chicago years, and a major member of the team still remembers …
On paper, it’s hard to get further away than Dennis Rodman and Toni Kukoc at the Bulls. On the one hand, the flamboyant, excessive celebrity, in a relationship with the most beautiful women in the world, capable of leaving the team in high season for 48 hours of madness in Las Vegas. On the other hand, the diligence, calm and even shyness of the Croatian, focused on basketball and nothing else.
One evening, however, Kukoc found himself at a party organized by Dennis Rodman. The balance sheet? A huge galley for the winger, who told the tasty anecdote last year:
It’s a special story (laughs). I just couldn’t follow him. I only had one party with him, because after that it takes 7 to 10 days to recover.
There were 4 of us: him, me and two other guys, and the first thing he did was order 40 shots of vodka and 10 beers. I said to him: “Are there other people coming? He said to me: “No no, but it’s important that the bar turns.” Everyone in the bar that night got their free food and alcohol, paid for by Rodman.
We can imagine Kukoc’s eyes widening when he saw the waiter bring 40 shots of vodka and 10 pints… and yet. For Dennis Rodman, it was just a night like any other, sometimes even the day before to put out a memorable performance with 28 or 30 swallowed rebounds.
This extravagant lifestyle ended up consuming D-Rod somewhat, becoming a “prisoner” of the character he had built for himself. Kukoc, lucid, skillfully sums up the situation of the one he still considers a good friend to this day:
Dennis is a great person who is great for everyone around, rather than great for himself. He never really managed to find the right balance.
From an arch-silent rookie when he arrived in Detroit to an outgoing superstar in the 1990s sky, Dennis Rodman has known it all. Roller coasters, a taste for excess: so many permanent features of the Hall of Famer course. Toni Kukoc did not make the same mistake twice!
