Dennis Rodman headlined the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2011 class announced on Monday at the Final Four, a group that includes former Dream Team member Chris Mullin and Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer.
“It’s just unreal,” Rodman told the Associated Press.
And somewhat unexpected, at least to the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and five-time NBA champion who believed his extracurricular activities — including donning a wedding dress to marry himself and kicking a photographer in the groin — would overshadow his on-the-court accomplishments.
“I looked at the way I am, and I thought I wouldn’t get in,” Rodman said.
Also part of the class were: coaches Tex Winter, innovator of the triangle offense, and Philadelphia University’s Herb Magee; longtime NBA and ABA star Artis Gilmore; former Portland Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis; Olympic gold medalist Teresa Edwards; Harlem Globetrotter Reece “Goose” Tatum; and former Celtic Tom “Satch” Sanders.
When informed of the honor last week, Rodman thought it was a prank. He figured there was no way the voters could get past his outlandish antics and focus on a career in which he became one of the best rebounders in league history.
“They looked past all the negativity and thought ‘Wow, he actually did change the game a little bit,’ ” said Rodman, who averaged 13.1 rebounds a game while playing for five teams. “I wasn’t a good scorer. I wasn’t the best athlete. But I was part of the machine.”
Information from Espn.com and The Associated Press contributed to this report.