Introduction
Dennis “The Worm” Rodman is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. That’s not up for debate. Rodman is a five-time NBA Champion, eight-time All-Defensive team member, and two-time Defensive Player of the Year. But throughout his 14-year career, he averaged only .7 steals per game and only totaled 611 steals. That doesn’t even scratch the top 300 Career Leaders for steals. That seems odd for a two-time DPOY. While he was a gifted basketball player, he holds the lowest points per game of any player in the NBA Hall of Fame as well as the 11th lowest assists per game.
| Player | PTS | TRB | AST |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Rodman | 7.3 | 13.1 | 1.8 |
| K.C Jones | 7.4 | 3.5 | 4.3 |
| Al Cervi | 7.9 | 1.8 | 3.2 |
| Dick McGuire | 8.0 | 4.2 | 5.7 |
| Andy Phillip | 9.1 | 4.4 | 5.4 |
| Bob Houbregs | 9.3 | 5.5 | 1.8 |
| Dikembe Mutombo | 9.8 | 10.3 | 1.0 |
| Slater Martin | 9.8 | 3.4 | 4.2 |
| Wes Unseld | 10.8 | 14.0 | 3.9 |
| Maurice Cheeks | 11.1 | 2.8 | 6.7 |
What did Dennis do to send him and his teammates to the NBA Finals six times and become a five-time NBA Champion? It wasn’t scoring, it wasn’t assisting, it was his skill as a rebounder.
Board Man Gets Paid
Throughout Rodman’s career he made an incredible 11,954 rebounds averaging 13.1 rebounds per game (RPG). He wasn’t always a board-machine however. Rodman spent his first four seasons in the league fighting to get above 10 RPG. Spending those years ranked below the top 10 rebounders in the league. Suddenly in the 1990-1991 season he hit his rebounding stride and averaged 12.5 RPG, ranking number two in the league. Only being outmatch by future teammate and Hall of Famer David Robinson. Every season after he averaged over 14.5 RPG and lead the league in RPG for six straight seasons.
To Score or Not to Score?
Dennis Rodman Played 899 games in his career and ended a staggering 61 of those games with zero points. Out of those 61 games, even with Rodman contributing zero points, his team ended up winning 44 of them. Especially in his years with the Chicago Bulls, Dennis didn’t contribute much in terms of points, instead serving as the main rebounder on both the offensive and defensive end of the court. This prompted the thought. What if Dennis Rodman never scored any points? Here’s every game Dennis played in his career. The orange line shows how many points Rodman scored, and the bar chart shows how many points his team won or lost by. Red represents a loss and green represents a win.
By subtracting Dennis’ points from the win/loss number we get what the point differential would have been if Rodman didn’t/couldn’t/wouldn’t score any points. I like the image of Rodman being too cool to even make a basket because it seems to fit with his against the grain off-court persona he eventually became known for. This is what his career would’ve looked like if he was just too cool and rebellious to shoot the ball.
How Will this Affect Rodman’s Legacy?
Even though Rodman wasn’t known for scoring points it’s easy to see that what points he did score contributed heavily to his team’s success, unless he was on the Bulls. If Rodman’s teams lost more that means other teams won more often, therefore hurting his chances of becoming a five-time NBA Champion. I recalculated the wins and losses for all teams in the NBA while Rodman played to see if any of his seasons would’ve resulted in a championship even with no points scored.
Detroit Pistons
Dennis Spent a majority of his career in Detroit playing with a team that was dubbed the “Bad Boy Pistons” for their conduct on and off the court. This Team was responsible for the initially rocky relationship Dennis had with his future teammates on the Bulls. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen especially. Rodman won two NBA Championships with the Pistons, when he was scoring. In the scenario where he didn’t score things panned out a bit differently.
The only years where the Pistons would’ve gotten to the playoffs were 1987 and 1989. Proving just how valuable he was as a point scorer in Detroit.
San Antonio Spurs
Dennis spent two years with the San Antonio Spurs. Even with no points the Spurs would’ve made the playoffs every year he was there. This can be attributed to Dennis finally hitting his stride with rebounds and generating points for the team even if he himself didn’t make the buckets.
Chicago Bulls
In the 1995-1996 season Dennis was traded to the Chicago Bulls, his long time rival. Surrounded by some of the greatest players to ever play basketball his point contribution was valuable, but not enough to bring the team down if he didn’t score. The Bulls would’ve made it to the playoffs, and won three championships even if Dennis only rebounded and passed the ball. Proving just how effective he was as a defensive player and rebounder.
Los Angeles Lakers
In Dennis’ short time with the Lakers he played with future Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. This was one of the only seasons in NBA history to be cut short due to a lockout. Every team only played 50 games. When playing with one of the most dynamic duos in all of basketball, Kobe and Shaq, Rodman’s points only made the difference in two games of the regular season.
Conclusion
Many stats in basketball can be misleading and undervalue players and their contributions to their teams. Rodman is a prime example of that. Even with zero career points Dennis would go down as one of the most valuable players on most of the teams he played for. His ability to predict the angle and location of a rebound before the ball even touched the basket was a skill that has yet to be replicated and his style of play is one of the most iconic and unorthodox the league has ever seen. Much like Dennis off the court, there’s more to his stats than meets the eye.