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It’s easy to forget the fact that the last team Dennis Rodman ever played for was the Mavericks. He may have only played 12 games for Dallas during that 1999-00 season, but his short stint with the team was rather eventful.
Rodman was the main subject during episode three of ‘The Last Dance’ that aired on Sunday and during the show, Marc Stein of The New York Times shared some stories about Rodman’s time in Dallas. Stein was with Dallas Morning News back then and saw plenty behind the scenes involving Rodman and the Mavs.
Mark Cuban had purchased the team at the start of the season and apparently, Rodman did not see eye-to-eye with the now glorified businessman. Rodman complained that Cuban was too close to the team and put him on blast after Dallas got off to a poor 3-9 start to the season. The then 38-year-old Rodman even compared him to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Cuban elected to waived him from the team shortly thereafter.
Rodman, 38, was abruptly waived. Cuban was (narrowly) approved as an NBA owner by some uneasy peers a month later. The following season Dallas halted a playoff drought that spanned a decade with the first of 11 50-win seasons in a row, led by Dirk, Steve Nash and Michael Finley
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 27, 2020
During his 12-game stint with the Mavs, Rodman averaged a mere 2.8 points per game but did manage to grab 14.3 rebounds per night. He also got ejected twice in those 12 games.
It certainly is interesting to think back at Dallas waiving Rodman which you could argue is a benchmark moment in the Cuban era as things took off from there thanks to Dirk Nowitzki really bursting onto the scene.
The season after the Mavs waived Rodman, the team made the playoffs 12 straight seasons including one NBA Championship with a total of two Finals appearances.