Bad Boy! Dennis Rodman had the reputation of being corrosive to a team. When I was shooting SPACE JAM he was available and I asked Michael why the Bulls weren’t going after him. MJ said that he would be a difficult teammate. I said the guy doesn’t do anything but rebound and play tough defense. That leaves all the shots for you and Scottie (Pippen).
‘He’s strange. I’d rather have dinner with you than him.’
‘You don’t have to eat with him.’
‘Good point.’
That night Dennis Rodman was at the Beverly Hills Hotel (where MJ was staying). The next Monday he was hired and The Bulls won three more championships. When Michael would speak about him to me he always called him ‘your boy.’ I worked with Rodman once, for Nike and he was cool and funny, a good sport. He was a killer player, working his ass off all the time. After Michael won the final game with his late jumpshot against Utah, I asked him if he shot too soon (there were eight seconds left). He said no, Dennis had neutralized Karl Malone and the Bulls had played badly and were still ahead. There was no way they were going to lose that game. Dennis had aggravated Karl Malone so much that Michael was able to steal the ball from him easily and that set up the winning shot. Dennis had a fling with Madonna when she had the house I’m living in now. She asked him how he liked it. He said, ‘It sucked.’ I think that’s why she sold it to me.