‘He was actually quiet, he wouldn’t even talk that much’: Dennis Rodman was ‘borderline shy’ and barely spoke to teammates when he was on Bulls

NBA icon Dennis Rodman was “borderline shy” and barely spoke to his teammates when he was on the Chicago Bulls. 

Rodman played for the Bulls from 1995-96 to 1997-98. 

“He was an incredible teammate,” Jud Buechler told Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype in 2020. “When the lights came on, he went crazy, he went nuts; he was a showman and very flamboyant and everything. But I think the one misconception about him is that [he’s always like that], but behind the scenes, he was actually quiet. He was super nice and he was super generous with all of us, just a great teammate. In practice, he just worked as hard as anybody. But he was actually borderline shy; like, he wouldn’t even talk that much. I don’t think the rest of the world would ever think that because of how he acted when the lights came on during our games and stuff, but he was one of my most favorite teammates.

“When he got inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Steve Kerr and I went, and I was really happy to be in the crowd and see him there and to be there for that moment, for him. So, he’s one of my favorite teammates. I played 12 years in the NBA and I would say he’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever played with.”

Rodman appeared in 199 regular season games with the Bulls. He averaged 5.2 points, 15.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.3 blocks while shooting 45.2% from the field and 54.8% from the free-throw line. 

The Bulls won three consecutive championships in 1996, 1997 and 1998 behind Rodman, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

Chicago beat the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals and the Utah Jazz in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals. 

“Dennis was one of the smartest guys I played with,” Jordan said in ESPN’s The Last Dance docuseries, which came out in 2020. “He understood defensive strategy with all the rotations. He had no limits in terms of what he does. … He was a new character, but I knew Dennis, and I knew what he could do basketball-wise.”

Rodman, who made the Hall of Fame in 2011, won five championships and two Defensive Player of the Year Awards during his career. He averaged 7.3 points, 13.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.6 blocks in 911 games with the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.

A two-time All-Star, Rodman made eight All-Defensive Teams and two All-NBA teams. 

“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.”