SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The acknowledgment list could only belong to Dennis Rodman.
There were coaches Phil Jackson and fellow inductee Tex Winter. Rodman mentioned teammate Michael Jordan, along with rockers Eddie Vedder and Motley Crue. And he thanked that guy Stern who’s coming to see him tonight.
That’s Howard Stern, not the NBA commissioner.
Rodman’s uncommon blend of basketball and entertainment has arrived at the sport’s birthplace, where he will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame tonight as part of the 10-person class of 2011.
“I really didn’t play the game to be in the Hall of Fame. That wasn’t my job,” Rodman said. “My job was to go out there and win ballgames, have a good time and take care of my family. As long as the people had a good time, that was my main objective.”
Dressed in all black, wearing sunglasses, an Ed Hardy tattooing hat and a scarf that read “The Worm, HOF ’11” on the inside, the five-time NBA champion was the center of attention during Thursday’s news conferences.
Exactly the way he likes it.
“I just love living life free. And for me to shine, I shine every damn day,” Rodman said. “This is for other people here that don’t get to see these famous people that’s going to come in this building tomorrow.”
Dream Teamer and two-time Olympic gold medalist Chris Mullin is the other headline name in the class, which includes women’s coach Tara VanDerveer and star Teresa Edwards as well as Winter, Herb Magee, Tom “Satch” Sanders, Artis Gilmore, Arvydas Sabonis and the late Reece “Goose” Tatum of the Harlem Globetrotters.
