| | DALLAS -- It didn't take long for Dennis Rodman to make his presence felt in Dallas, on and off the court.
| |  | | Rodman |
Playing before a boisterous sellout crowd that featured Deion
Sanders and Emmitt Smith sitting courtside, Rodman grabbed nine
rebounds and took a hard foul that briefly knocked out Seattle's Ruben Patterson in just his first half as a Maverick.
Rodman, who wore No. 70, didn't look like a 38-year-old guy who
has been out of the NBA for 10 months. In 16 minutes, he also had
three fouls and a length-of-the court assist following one rebound.
There was one sign of rust: He got caught playing illegal defense
twice, the second giving Seattle a technical free throw.
Rodman was aggressive from the get-go, snatching the game's
first miss and being fouled by Vin Baker. Then Patterson made the mistake of trying to drive to the hoop through Rodman. Both went
down, but only Rodman got up. Patterson, who was called for a
charge, remained flat on his face for several minutes.
Rodman sat out the first few minutes of the second quarter, but
he grabbed the first available rebound when he returned. There was
a near blowup soon after, though, as he was called for two quick
fouls -- both of which he disagreed with.
Rodman, obviously peeved, ran upcourt cupping the ball as if he
were going to heave it, but instead marched to the far sideline and
placed it down softly.
He spent the last 2:42 of the quarter on the bench, then walked
silently to the locker room at halftime with a towel over his
blonde head. Seattle led 59-51 and won 117-106. Rodman finished
with 13 rebounds in 32 minutes.
The fans who made this just the second sellout of the season
made it obvious who they were here to see as they howled for
everything Rodman did.
Some had homemade signs, such as "Oh my God, it's Rodzilla" and "Welcome back Worm. We missed you. Go Mavs." Six shirtless teen-agers wore goofy hats and wigs and had R-O-D-M-A-N spelled on their chests. Others painted their hair blue and green and a few
had very fake-looking earrings and nose rings.
This was easily the Mavs' most-anticipated home game since the
Western Conference finals in 1988. The team issued more than 100
extra media credentials, forcing some of the overflow to be stashed
in the hockey press box. Such attention is unheard of for a team
that's last playoff win came before Rodman had his first tattoo.
Rodman, though, was unfazed by it all.
He shook hands with singer Montell Jordan during pregame
warmups, then rocked nervously from side to side as Jordan sang the
national anthem. When Rodman was the first starter announced, he
danced in place under a spotlight without even cracking a smile.
Rodman got the evening off to a good note by showing up five
minutes earlier than he had to, getting into the locker room at
6:10 p.m. even though his teammates had been at Reunion Arena for
well over an hour.
Rodman was all business as he collected several pairs of shoes and went straight to an off-limits workout room. That's when he found out he was in the starting lineup.
"He's going to start eventually anyway, so we might as well throw him right in there," coach-general manager Don Nelson said.
Nelson laid out his first game plan of the Rodman Era to the
other 11 players during a 5 p.m. shootaround and walkthrough. Shawn Bradley was the demoted starter and he didn't take it well, hurling
a ball towards a rack then sulking against the hoop standard while
the rest of the team simulated plays.
Outside the arena, the frenzy was already in high gear.
Herb and Wanda Patlis drove about 90 minutes from Waco to see
Rodman in action. In an unintentional yet fitting tribute to
Rodman, they were hoping to cash in on his presence by selling a
framed, autographed poster of Rodman as a Chicago Bull for a couple
hundred bucks.
"I like his showmanship," Wanda Patlis said. "I just think
he's always done a good job of promoting himself. That's why I'm
here. I just hope he behaves himself."
The Mavericks are risking only about $460,000 on having Rodman
the rest of this season, and they seemed poised to recoup their
investment in one night.
In addition to the sellout, blue and green road jerseys of
Rodman's No. 70 were rushed to the concession stands and going for
$43. T-shirts weren't yet available because there were no action
shots of Rodman as a Maverick.
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