Why did Rodman fall off the All-Defensive First Team in 1993-94?

[72-10]

And do you consider him the greatest defender of all time?

Here's a clipping of the voting for that season: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5864...e_team_voting/

Now he barely missed, but yeah, he still missed.

[kennethgriffen]

well he was a notorious shit disturber...

awards are mostly politics

[bigkingsfan]

He dyed his hair and changed his image, the voters probably didn't like that.

Got this off wiki.
" During the season, he headbutted Stacey King and John Stockton, refused to leave the hardwood once after being ejected, and had a highly publicized two-month affair with Madonna"

In 1997 he didn't even make the team after kicking the camera man and never did again.

[ClipperRevival]

Rodman was a serious head case. He needed structure. He had it in Detroit and Chicago. But other places, he didn't. I say he is the most versatile defensive player ever. He legit guarded MJ to Shaq. But GOAT defender? That has to go to a GOAT tier defensive C, like Hakeem.

But I would honestly take Rodman on my all time team. He was that valuable to me. The D, rebounding, hustle and sheer enery. Box scores don't track what he brought.

[72-10]

Yeah, that would explain it, the things unrelated to his defense, but certainly relevant to the game.

[Loco 50]

Lots of reasons. For starters S.A. is a small market and has always struggled to get its players exposure. More importantly, I remember reading how tough it was that the Pistons were broken up and how important Chuck Daly was to Rodman. He considered retiring, but ended up sticking it out and getting traded to S.A. where he was completely mishandled.

The Spurs coach Bob Hill was an idiot and Dennis smelled that out pretty quickly. He showed his disdain for him by just ignoring him and referring to him as Boner. Pop was GM and had a much harsher, more military approach back then too, so that wasn't gonna fly with Dennis doing stuff like this


in a fairly conservative, military city. Finally, we had DRob and Avery Johnson, two super religious guys attempting to preach to Dennis and get him to come to Jesus. Shit was nuts.

Meanwhile, articles were coming out about Dennis' ongoing marital problems and attempted suicide that was thwarted by Craig Sager, of all people. A story surfaced about him falling asleep with a shotgun in his lap outside a strip club. Despite heavy alcohol problems mixed with severe depression and uncertainty concerning his future he still played pretty damn well for the Spurs. Unfortunately, he just had a complete meltdown in the playoffs at the same time the Spurs had their annual meltdown and got shipped off to Chicago for Perdue. I remember being so pissed at that trade in retrospect, but looking at it now it may have saved him from darker possibilities. He needed Phil, MJ and Pip to provide a winning environment where he was accepted and not questioned as long as he produced. I'm happy he pulled through.

Despite it not working well with the Spurs, he's one of my favorite players ever to watch and I'm glad I got to watch him suit up for us even if it was just for a couple of years. Never will see a player like him play the game the way he did. Ever. The way he put his body on the line. It was a joy to watch. Also, to watch a guy with so much chaos and pain in his life manage to tune all the bullshit out and just hoop was something special.

[Proctor]

Lots of reasons. For starters S.A. is a small market and has always struggled to get its players exposure. More importantly, I remember reading how tough it was that the Pistons were broken up and how important Chuck Daly was to Rodman. He considered retiring, but ended up sticking it out and getting traded to S.A. where he was completely mishandled.

The Spurs coach Bob Hill was an idiot and Dennis smelled that out pretty quickly. He showed his disdain for him by just ignoring him and referring to him as Boner. Pop was GM and had a much harsher, more military approach back then too, so that wasn't gonna fly with Dennis doing stuff like this


in a fairly conservative, military city. Finally, we had DRob and Avery Johnson, two super religious guys attempting to preach to Dennis and get him to come to Jesus. Shit was nuts.

Meanwhile, articles were coming out about Dennis' ongoing marital problems and attempted suicide that was thwarted by Craig Sager, of all people. A story surfaced about him falling asleep with a shotgun in his lap outside a strip club. Despite heavy alcohol problems mixed with severe depression and uncertainty concerning his future he still played pretty damn well for the Spurs. Unfortunately, he just had a complete meltdown in the playoffs at the same time the Spurs had their annual meltdown and got shipped off to Chicago for Perdue. I remember being so pissed at that trade in retrospect, but looking at it now it may have saved him from darker possibilities. He needed Phil, MJ and Pip to provide a winning environment where he was accepted and not questioned as long as he produced. I'm happy he pulled through.

Despite it not working well with the Spurs, he's one of my favorite players ever to watch and I'm glad I got to watch him suit up for us even if it was just for a couple of years. Never will see a player like him play the game the way he did. Ever. The way he put his body on the line. It was a joy to watch. Also, to watch a guy with so much chaos and pain in his life manage to tune all the bullshit out and just hoop was something special.

Awesome post, my man.