Rodman's Demise... (April 16, 1999)

So many things have happened in the past week or so I don't know where to start. I have noticed in my own writing, I am rambling more and more and not being really coherent, which to say, isn't bad, just….where was I? Rambling? Incoherency? Uh?

Rodman canned. Who would have thought that? I think every can honestly say they all saw this coming. Dennis Rodman was dicking the Lakers around. If he was dedicated to the game and to his team, he would have shown up every game, every practice and gone in when his coaches told him to, not cause all these distractions. But Rodman has won championships, rebounding titles, defensive players of the years, Sixth Man awards, he's done it all. Why did he come back to the Lakers? Because he was bored. Simple. He wasn't the center of attention anymore. Why did he marry Carmen Electra? Same reason. He was bored. What would it be like to marry Carmen Electra? Then he knew, got bored with her and left. She is a gorgeous woman, there is no doubt, but Rodman can get strippers as hot as Carmen every day, all day, and a new one every hour. Why would he want Carmen? But I'm not talking about his failed marriage. His failed basketball comeback is finally over. He still could rebound. Over 11 in just under 29 minutes a game. But he was racking up technical fouls, and more often than not, in recent games, was floating. He was often floating when he was with the Bulls, but he has Jordan and Pippen and Jackson to bust him in the ass. These were guys who had won without him and knew they would cut his sorry ass loose if he screwed up. The Lakers had no one to police him. Hell, he was the elder statesman, Derek Harper excluded (but what has Harper done in his career? Never been an All-Star and never won a championship. He is a solid pro though.) The only guy who even demanded Rodman's respect was the new coach Kurt Rambis. In another life, Rambis was Rodman. Rambis has rings. He knows how to win. But Rambis never won as a coach and I think this irked Rodman a bit, having a rookie coach bossing him around, when Rodman thinks (and probably rightly so) that he knows more than the coach when it comes to playing basketball. Rodman's basketball I.Q. is high. He's got a feel for the game, that few have. His outlet passing is second to probably Charles Oakley in the NBA and keep this in mind. Oak and Rodman are from the same vintage, old school power forwards.

Now that Rodman is gone, where does that leave the Lakers? They still have some decent power forwards. J.R. Reid was the Charlotte Hornets best player before he was traded to the Lakers. He could provide some offense from that position. Robert Horry was the odd man out in the Lakers rotation when Glen Rice and Dennis Rodman came in, but he should provide some quality minutes. Travis Knight proved in his rookie year he could play next to Shaquille O'Neal and will have to do so again. The biggest problem to the Lakers is who will replace Dennis Rodman's ability to defense versus Karl Malone. Malone kills the Lakers, but Rodman really can get into the Mailman's head. It remains to be seen who will guard him in the playoffs. The Lakers might lose home court advantage this year. If the Lakers don't get the ball down to Shaq when he's hot, they will not win at all. It almost incomprehensible to think that Shaq doesn't get enough shots, but he doesn't. He should touch the ball almost every time down there. He doesn't have to shoot every time, but the threat should be enough to give some room for Kobe Bryant to create and Glen Rice to shoot.

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