Bad as I Wanna Be

I love a good memoir!! Rodman, D., & Keown, T. (1996). Bad as I wanna be. Delacorte Press. Dennis Rodman is an American former professional basketball player initiated into the Hall of Fame in 2021. He played for the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and Dallas Mavericks and was known for his defensive play and rebounding abilities. He played the power forward position. His memoir doesn't waste time with pleasantries. It opens (1993) with him sitting in The Palace parking lot contemplating suicide, then transforms that moment of despair into a declaration of independence. This sets the tone for what follows: a brutally honest, sometimes chaotic and compelling story of someone who refused to fit anyone's mold. Rodman's voice is blunt, repetitive at times, and unapologetically crude. But that's precisely its strength. This feels like Rodman speaking directly to you, profanity and all. A central tension is how Rodman seemingly and simultaneously craves recognition and rebels against the establishment that could grant it. He's bitter about being treated as "nothing more than a sports slave," yet he takes pride in doing "the things nobody wants to do." He claims the system punished him financially for not fitting the NBA mold, yet his nonconformity became his brand. This contradiction isn't resolved—and that's honest. Rodman himself seems caught between wanting validation and refusing to play by the rules that would earn it. He ends the narrative when he was traded to the Chicago Bulls. My favorite part was his description of his basketball philosophy. What made Rodman the world's greatest rebounder wasn't just physical ability—it was mental preparation and obsession, "I train my mind to believe I need to get every rebound just to stay in the league. I force myself to believe I'm still hungry." He pursued an intellectual approach to understanding ball rotation and trajectory. His explanation of predicting where balls will land, of prioritizing quick jumps over high ones, of studying opponents' shooting tendencies on videotape—this is the work of a craftsman, not just a wild man. His defensive strategy was psychological: "I would get into their minds. . . . . I always made sure to look the guy right in the eyes." Rodman understands something fundamental: he's interesting precisely because he's contradictory. He's the homeless kid who made the NBA, a defensive specialist who became a pop culture icon, the team player who was impossible to coach. The book doesn't try to resolve these contradictions—it embraces them. This isn't a book for everyone. Those seeking polished prose or balanced self-reflection should look elsewhere. But for readers interested learning more about Rodman, this memoir ultimately tells the story of a man who refused to be anyone but himself, even when that meant being "too different, too weird." From homelessness to the NBA, his message is clear: the dirty work, the psychological warfare, the refusal to conform—it all mattered. As he said: "You can like me or hate me but all I can say is when I get on that d?mn floor all I'm going to do is get solid."

One of the few players to come into the NBA from poverty, homeless shortly before he got to go to a college. It is pretty repetitive, but he has a powerful message to tell about the NBA. I'm' glad I bought and read it despite its vulgarity and repetitive nature.

My son thought it was a good book.

Wild story of the man himself, and his life’s adventures, im not a huge reader, but I finished this book quick.

I am a big Dennis Rodman fan and I actually got the book for my son, because he loves basketball and he is very intrigued by Dennis Rodman. Well, this was my excuse:) Excellent book! Loved it!

Great boo

This is an awesome book. It is a really easy read and you will definitely find things out about "the worm" that you never knew. I highly recommend this book!

Love Rodman. Just know he wrote this in the mid 90s. He has no fear, no filter, and no one holding him back. Sounds super fun- and I don’t mind knowing how much he doesn’t respect David Robinson- but there’s also a lot of repetition and Dennis making a good (but hard to get with) case for how he should have been paid more. And he should have. But me too and nobody cares about that either.

Un crack Dennis Rodman

Im Nachgang an the "last dance" habe ich das Buch gelesen. Einfacher Stoff für zwischendurch. Geschrieben wie Dennis halt ist :D Besonders gefallen hat mir das Artwork.

Chi non è mai stato attratto da Dennis Rodman, come persona e come personaggio. Chi non ha mai guardato straniato quel ragazzo e i suoi buffi capelli. Chi baskettaro non ha mai desiderato di possedere la sua canotta. Eccentrico, anticonformista, una personalità con una gravità tutta sua, una forza creata dall'azione a distanza che travolge tutto l'ambiente circostante, con idee e concetti bizzarri, che attraggono e forse spaventano l'attenzione dell'opinione pubblica, . Questa volta a raccontare non sono i giornali, non sono persone esterne che pretendono di sapere cosa passa per la testa di Dennis, e che hanno solamente finito col criticarlo e distruggerlo per ogni azione di espressione della sua personalità, questa volta a raccontare è Rodman stesso, facendoci viaggiare dentro i sentieri della sua mente, come Virgilio con Dante ne La Divina Commedia, e ci fa immedesimare nell'uomo più che nel personaggio. Ci porta nei suoi pensieri, nelle sue idee, rivelandosi più umano di quanto in realtà non appaia esternamente, raccontato da gossip e tabloid. Un uomo che pochi hanno compreso, e pochi comprenderanno. Un uomo che resterà nella memoria di molti come quello pazzo, ma forte, fortissimo. Forse è questo l'obiettivo di Dennis, dare una visione di sè diversa da quella solita, dimostrare qualcosa che non è mai stato in grado di fare. E parte proprio dall'episodio più significativo della sua vita, quella notte passata nel suo pickup con un fucile carico in mano, in lacrime, pensando di essere arrivato sul fondo della piscina, annegato e intrappolato nella sua vita. Mi sento di definire questo libro come completo, c'è tutto, vita, pensieri, gioie, dolori, esperienze, aneddoti. La sua idea di basket, la sua infanzia, la sua voglia di emergere. La sua esperienza a Detroit, il rapporto padre-figlio col suo primo allenatore, la vita complicata a San Antonio, la rinascita a Chicago. La sua esperienza con Madonna, il suo rapporto con i soldi. Consigliatissimo anche ai non appassionati di basket. P.S. Il libro è in inglese.

Arrived in good condition. A good read, always interesting to hear/read stories about Rodman

Easy to read and entertaining. Love Rodman so this book was great to read