Why Rodman’s son believes he’s ready for the NBA after Warriors workout originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
DJ Rodman knows what comes with his name. The son of the NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman was part of a six-player Warriors pre-draft workout on Thursday and went back in time to when he started playing basketball.
Not as a little boy shooting with his dad, but watching him on TV at 10 years old — more than a decade after Rodman last played in the NBA.
“People don’t know he wasn’t in my life much,” Rodman told Chase Center reporters and media members on Zoom. “It’s cool, I remember when I was little he watched Hardwood Classics on NBA TV.
“It’s cool to look back on those memories from when I was little and watch those clips and have that as something I studied almost every day. Almost every day they played one of these games. Recovery was where I got it from – those videos, those games.”
Dennis is arguably the greatest rebounder in NBA history at 6-foot-3. The 6-foot-5 DJ averaged 4.2 rebounds in his five-year college career. They are two different people and two different players. Dennis made 82 3-point shots in his 14-year NBA career. DJ made 89 threes in his last two years in college.
Rodman spent his first four collegiate seasons at Washington State and finished at USC. He started just 12 games in his first three years, averaging 3.9 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 32.7 percent from deep. But in his final two years, Rodman started 58 of 63 games and averaged 29.5 minutes, 9.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and made 37.2% of his threes. He primarily played as an undersized four because of his toughness and improvements as a rebounder.
Offensively, Rodman has become a strong shooter. Now, he hopes to show teams that he is more assertive in attack. Rodman has told every team he has worked with that he has become “significantly better” there and wants to showcase his skills as a winger more.
But to do so, Rodman and his representative Tyrell Jamerson of Triple Double Sports reached the agreement he needed to make changes to his swing. Don’t be fooled by the last name. Rodman was self-taught growing up. He didn’t have personal trainers, his game wasn’t being perfected.
“I like watching myself because now I really jump on my jump shot,” Rodman said. “I actually look like a basketball player when I shoot the ball.”
Rodman previously joked that he jumped “maybe 2 inches” when he shot at USC. He compared his previous shooting mechanics to that of Chantel Osahor, who shot 37.2% from three as a senior at Washington even though her feet remained attached to the court.
Despite their differences as players, the innate characteristics shared between father and son were unmistakable as Rodman talked about his game. He talked about rebounding as a science, not an athletic feat. Rodman expressed his desire to guard the other team’s leading scorer and prided himself on being able to score one through five in college, being a nuisance and finding ways to get into the opponent’s head.
The dog? He is there.
“It’s in my blood, ironically,” Rodman acknowledges. “It’s true. It’s in my blood. But other than that, I feel like it’s something I can control night in and night out. You can’t control whether you’re going to make shots. You can control your effort level on the defensive end.
“You can control giving your team the best opportunity to win by stopping the matchup or stopping one of the opposing team’s best players.”
Steph Curry. Klay Thompson. Andrew Wiggins. And many more in the past.
The Warriors have a long history of success with players who have pedigree ties to the NBA. Rodman could be next.
“It was great, it kind of kicked me a little bit,” Rodman said of his Warriors workout. “I’m just running a lot. I had fun, though. You need someone to kick you in the ass and wake you up a little. It was great, I had a lot of fun.”
Rodman didn’t follow the one-year path like his USC teammate with a more famous name. DJ’s path, like his father’s, was longer to reach the NBA. For reasons far removed from his namesake, Rodman believes his path and continued development has prepared him for success with the Warriors or any other team at the next level.
