Ray Bradbury once wrote, “Run fast, stand still. This the lesson from the lizards…Observe almost any survival creature, you see the same. Jump, run, freeze. In the ability to flick like an eyelash, crack like a whip, vanish like steam, here this instant, gone the next-life teems the earth. And when that life is not rushing to escape, it is playing statues to do the same.” Some scientists state that the chameleon changes its colors to make itself more comfortable while others feel it is a way to protect themselves from predators. A chameleon of sorts was born in Trenton, New Jersey on May 13, 1961 and his name is Dennis Rodman.
In his own words, Dennis is the oldest of 47 children. He grew up very poor in what some may say was/still is a dangerous section of Dallas called Oak Cliff. His father, Philander, left Dennis, his mother, and two sisters to move to the Philippines and fend for themselves. Spending so much time with his mother and sisters growing gave Dennis a complex which has resulted in him being overly sensitive and bashful, which he still exhibits to this day. Where Dennis’ sisters were athletic when they were coming up, Dennis was not. Once he began to sprout up in height the guys in his neighborhood began to refer to him as “tall, dark, and ugly”. The girls deemed Dennis as not at all good looking and weird to date and were just as cruel to him as the guys if not more. With a domineering African American female household and the neighborhood girls overt dislike towards him, Dennis’ apathy towards Black women grew.
Dennis eventually worked hard to prove himself on the basketball court in high school and earned himself a spot playing collegiate basketball. He was finally able to experience a woman and loose his virginty at age 20 albeit to a “professional”. Once his skills on the court began to receive some notice so began the ladies noticing him. In particular were white women, who were more than plentiful where he played his college ball at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Now these girls began to tell Dennis that he was “beautiful” and “fine” which in turn lead to Dennis gaining more confidence within himself. Finally the feelings of loneliness and hurt he grew up with were slowly dissipating. With recognition for his basketball skills growing to unseen levels, he eventually declared for the 1986 NBA draft was was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the third pick in the second round.
When Dennis arrived to Detroit he came into a tight knit situation, a family unit, lead by the coach Chuck Daly and lead team’s unquestioned floor general, Isiah Thomas. With characters such as Bill Laimbeer, John Salley, Joe Dumars, and Vinnie “Microwave” Johnson as his teammates and mentors, Dennis was sure to get a crash course on NBA life. One of the first rules the guys taught him was not to fall in love as most girls he would be seeing and meeting were either “dating”, had been “dating”, or been “biblically” with not only the guys on the team but other guys in the NBA, NFL, and MLB too! They tried to pound into Dennis head to “be careful”. Dennis was very inexperienced in the ways of the world and it showed. He had a childlike quality to him and it was hard to hide his innocence. His teammates introduced or showed him many of the female predators that were keen to either marry or have a baby by a ball player. They also introduced him to certain females that were nice enough to lend or perform certain favors for the team as well. One such female, Annie, had dated two of the guys on the team and was always in and around the facilities at The Pontiac Silverdome.
Dennis quickly fell for Annie’s charms as she befriended the rookie at first. She told him everything he wanted to hear and then some. As a way to garner the more playing time during games which he so coveted and prove himself to Chuck Daly, she suggested that he start going all out on the court as a way to make a name for himself in the league. Dennis loved coach Chuck and felt that the coach treated him like a son, something he had been longing for. Dennis’ star rose as the “Bad Boys”, the Pistons nick name, rose. They now were going deeper than ever before in the playoffs along with Dennis’ help, especially through his defensive acumen where Dennis had become one of the premiere players in the league. By the time they lost to the LA Lakers in the 1988 NBA Filnals, Annie had his first child, Alexis.
By the end of the 1989 season, the team won its first world title and then after the 1990 they won their second and Dennis won the Defensive Player of The Year Award. Life was good for him but his teammates especially Isiah Thomas told him not to get too comfortable with his love life and always “be careful”. After the 1993 season, Dennis’ life took a drastic change. His coach/father figure Chuck Daly resigned leaving Dennis with the thoughts of abandonment that he once felt with his own biological father. The most devastating situation that lead him to place a shotgun in his mouth was when he found Annie, who by that time he had made his wife, in the whirlpool bath of the team facilities “getting it in” with one of his former teammates. He felt betrayed that none of his current teammates alerted him even though he was told “be careful”. This absolutely crushed Dennis and made him vow to not care about anyone or anything anymore. He was granted a trade to the San Antonio Spurs and thus began to change. First the hair, then the tattoos, and most importantly he met a girl named, Madonna.
In the early 90’s Madonna was keen to have an African American baby. She ran through actors, dancers, and rappers to no avail so she then set her sights on the NBA. First Brian Shaw, then Charles Barkley, and a few more but not the intended result she had hoped for. She then meets Dennis and they have instant chemistry. She befriends Dennis and teaches him to be a chameleon. Change your hair more drastically, more skin ink, make yourself stand alone so everyone notices. Soon with Madonna’s help, the new Dennis became a show in itself. He then started to be looked upon as a negative in San Antonio, selfish, unruly, a big distraction. Madonna also taught him ways that would lead some people only to believe he was gay, as Dennis is very far from that. She also told him he needed a bigger market as San Antonio was not where it was at if he wanted to use her teachings and become mega famous as she was. Dennis was able to use her chameleon like techniques to cause enough uproar and eventually get traded to the Chicago Bulls. Dennis went onto gain world wide acclaim for basketball, being a chameleon, and was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year.
-Artemus Gordon
