Dennis Rodman recently looked back on his tumultuous stint in San Antonio, claiming that then-GM Gregg Popovich “hated” him and thought of him as “the devil.”
Rodman averaged 5.9 points and 16.8 rebounds in 1994-95, his second and final year with the Spurs.
Pop had The Worm shipped to Chicago, where he helped lead the Bulls to their second three-peat.
Per Newsweek:
“The city kind of embraced me, but what’s his name, Popovich, he hated me,” Rodman told Joe Buck on ‘Undeniable’. “He hated my guts because I wasn’t a bible guy. They looked at me like I was the devil.
“I said, my god, am I the same guy that helped get David Robinson a scoring title and MVP? Am I the same guy that averaged 19.3 rebounds per game for you. Am I the same guy who won 68 damn games? Am I that same guy, but you guys don’t like me? So I said, ‘OK, trade me.’ They traded me to the damn Bulls.”
Despite his feelings, Rodman performed just as well in Chicago. Under coach Phil Jackson, he managed an average of 5.3 points and 15.3 rebounds per game over three seasons. He was also part of the 1995-96 Bulls team that set an NBA record of 72 wins out of 82 games in the regular season.
