https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqrlVeP6puQ
There’s plenty of stories about Dennis Rodman’s insane, late-night antics during his run with the Chicago Bulls in the ’90s — there are chapters dedicated to Rodman sleeping in during key moments in their historic championship runs in his book, Second Coming — so it’s not really a surprise to hear a fresh tale. But what makes this weird story from Billy Corgan so special is that it comes from the point of view of a rock star at the peak of their powers and stamina, and he still couldn’t keep up with Dennis Rodman.
In this clip from Joe Rogan’s podcast, Corgan talks about his relationship with Dennis Rodman, who’s been described as “child-like” and “naive” for decades, but now he’s being characterized as such as the former rebounding leader tries to calm relations between North Korea and the rest of the world, so that’s got a strange subtext to it.
Anyway, Rodman had major staying power when it came to partying, so after a night guarding Diamond Dallas Page tag-team partner Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz in the 96-97 NBA Finals, Rodman and Corgan hopped aboard a billionaire’s private jet to go from Park City to Vegas. As Corgan tells it, they stay up all night gambling, then fly back in the morning for a media event. Rodman shoots around, then decides to go back to Vegas as soon as the shootaround is wrapped.
Corgan decided he couldn’t handle Rodman’s marathon session, so in true Billy Corgan fashion, he goes off and plays some putt-putt golf (possibly by himself), only to run into an angry Phil Jackson who blames Corgan for Rodman’s partying. It’s the cliché zen-master head coach mistakes rock star as negatively influencing an all-NBA defensive player conundrum you hear about so often.
