Dennis Rodman once said he never spoke to Bulls teammates Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen off the court despite winning 3 straight titles
Dennis Rodman played an integral role in the Chicago Bulls' second three-peat in the mid-to-late '90s (1995-1998). When he joined the Bulls, he was already a two-time NBA champion, having won back-to-back titles with the Detroit Pistons (1989 and 1990). With Chicago, Rodman earned three more titles, finishing with five rings.
Rodman was part of one of the most dominant 'Big 3s' in the league's history alongside fellow legends Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. The trio was unstoppable on the court, but according to Rodman, they didn't have such a warm relationship off the court.
In an interview with Graham Bensinger earlier this year, Rodman said:
"Well, I think it was important for me to go there and win. Me and Scottie, and Michael, never had a conversation in three years in Chicago. Only time we had a conversation is on the court. That was it. And nobody believes that. Only people I had a conversation with was probably Jud Buechler, Randy Brown, Steve Kerr, Luc Longley and other players. But me, Michael, and Scottie, we never had a conversation off the court," Rodman otold Bensinger.
What is Dennis Rodman's relationship with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen?
On ESPN's First Take in 2020, Rodman said he only wanted to win titles alongside Jordan and Pippen and that he didn't care about much else on the court at the time.
"For me, I was just more there for the ride, pretty much. I wanted to win championships with these guys. I would go to war for these guys any time of the day. It was just sad the fact that we could have come back and won a fourth championship very easily," Rodman said.
Even though Rodman said he didn't speak with Jordan and Pippen off the court, the five-time champion revealed that he now has a great relationship with his former teammates and has kept in touch with both Pippen and Jordan.
"Me and Mike and Scottie have so much love for each other now because we're not haters with each other. We embrace the fact that we had a chance to play with each other. We're friends. We're not calling each other every day and hanging out, but when we see each other, we share the love. Like, 'Hey, appreciate you, man. I've got your back.' Stuff like that. That's how we love each other now," Rodman said in an interview with Bleacher Report in 2020.
"We embrace it because we put the NBA back on the map in the '90s. Me and Mike and Scottie revolutionized the game. The way everyone plays now, that's how we played then. And now all of a sudden everyone's talking about Big Threes. Now? Really? We were the Big Three. We were the main three. We consistently won, we consistently won championships," he added.
Rodman also said that the only thing he regretted was not getting the opportunity to fight for a fourth NBA championship with the Bulls, as Jordan retired in the summer of 1998 while Pippen and Rodman got traded in the second part of the 1998-99 season.