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Dennis Rodman was certainly no stranger to controversy during his time in the NBA, and while some of his teammates may have been less than thrilled with the formidable defender’s well-documented love of partying, those antics typically didn’t prevent him from delivering when it mattered most.
The eccentric big man has continued to stir the pot well after his retirement in 2000, and he hasn’t shied away from making some pretty bold claims, whether we’re talking about his assertion his Bulls would’ve bodied the modern-day Warriors or Scottie Pippen would’ve been better than LeBron James if they’d both played in the 1990s.
Rodman is far from the only person who loves to argue about hypothetical matchups between players and teams in different eras, and part of the reason those debates are rarely put to rest is the fact that there’s no way to objectively prove (or disprove) either side of the argument.
However, I think he may have taken things a bit too far after straying into Nuclear Take territory with some comments concerning Larry Bird.
Rodman recently sat down with VladTV for a discussion where he did a deep dive into his life and career, which included a segment where he addressed his decision to walk back his criticism of Larry Bird after he said the Celtics legend’s reputation was linked to the color of his skin.
While he admitted that comment may have been a bit misguided, that didn’t stop him from throwing some more shade at the Boston icon when he said, “If Larry Bird played in this era, I think he’d be in Europe.”
Rodman suggested Bird was essentially a product of a Celtics system that worked in the 1980s but would be obsolete today, and even though he supplemented that bold stance by saying he didn’t intend to disrespect Bird, plenty of fans weren’t exactly buying it.
I heard the quote, I love Rodman as a player but let me Remind Worm just what Bird did to him when he was past his prime and Rodman was in his Rodman was 1 of the more athletic dudes 2 come through the NBA and this is what LB did to him @HonestLarry1 @DimeDropperPod @FrostyBias pic.twitter.com/695HIfmhoa
— ValidHaitian (@haiti4eva) June 26, 2023
Oh please. Stop it Rodman. Bird was as smooth as butter.
— cody (@codyjhor) June 26, 2023
Bird would be obscenely good today. Rodman, far, far from it. https://t.co/sRItU0s1h4
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) June 26, 2023
Look how he did Dominique on the 2nd clip and Dominique was athletic. https://t.co/ecko6H6isw
— Jaguar Paw (@sirdibbydukes) June 26, 2023
There may be no way to prove Rodman is wrong, but I think it’s much, much harder to make the case he’s right.