Dennis Rodman slams Gregg Popovich: 'He tried to make me a good soldier and then badmouthed me' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images/AFP; AP Photo/Eric Gay Credit Ronald Martinez/Getty Images/AFP; AP Photo/Eric Gay

Dennis Rodman, one of the unique personalities the NBA has ever seen, was also the most prolific rebounder in the league during his heyday.

Dennis Rodman

Position:SF, PFAge:60Height:198 cmWeight:100 kgBirth place:United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

Even though he stayed with the San Antonio Spurs for only two seasons, Rodman made an impact and produced some of his career's best rebounding numbers. During his stint with the Spurs, Rodman averaged only 5.5 points but was able to pull out 17 rebounds per game.

In the later stages of his career, Rodman's popularity and excessive behavior became a problem. It all started to become more emphasized when he began playing for the Spurs.

In his book 'Bad as I Wanna Be' that came out the year before Gregg Popovich, who was the president, appointed himself as the head coach, Rodman is talking about his controversial stint with the Spurs and his shaky relationship with Popovich, before Rodman was ultimately dealt to Chicago in October 1995.

“The biggest problem in San Antonio was Gregg Popovich, the general manager. He wanted to be the coach and the general manager. He stood around and held Bob Hill's (Spurs' coach) hand every day, saying, "Okay, you've got to do this now. It's time for you to listen to me."

If Hill didn't do it, Popovich would jump his ass, and so HIll would turn around and jump somebody else's ass. Shit flows downhill, and it seemed like I was always at the bottom," Rodman, now 60, writes in his book that came out in 1996.

"Other than the playoffs I didn't have much of a problem with Bob Hill. He was being used as much as I was. Popovich wanted to be the guy who tamed Dennis Rodman, and he tried to use Hill to do his dirty work. That was Popovich's big challenge."

Rodman uses some harsh words to criticize Popovich, now 73, for what Rodman thought an unfair treatment.

"Mr. Military was going to make me a good little boy, a good soldier. He lost sight of everything else, and then when he decided he couldn't do anything with me, he badmouthed me and gave me away for next to nothing. Then he pretended it was good for the team".

The two definitely didn't get along, something that was no secret back in the '90s when all of that happened.

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