The Detroit Pistons retired Dennis Rodman’s jersey last Friday, and the honors for Rodman just keep adding up: the Basketball Hall of Fame announced today it will induct Rodman, among several others, in a ceremony this August. Rodman, as only he can do, let that news slip during a press conference prior to the jersey-retirement ceremony, but the Hall made it official today.
Rodman spent the first seven seasons of his 14-year NBA career, as a Piston. With the club, he won two championships, earned two All-Star appearances, took home two Defensive Player of the Year awards, and led the league in rebounding twice. He also is Detroit’s all-time leader in field-goal shooting (53.7 percent) and ranks fifth in rebound average (11.5).
After leaving the Pistons, Rodman continued to lead the league in rebounding for the next five seasons. He won three more championships with the Chicago Bulls before tailing off considerably. His career ended with one-year stints with the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.
Rodman is among the game’s singular talents: he dominated despite rarely touching the ball at the offensive end. We may never see a more important, successful ballplayer with such a modest career scoring average (7.3 points) again.