Dennis Rodman Greatest Athlete Phil Jackson Has Coached?

[ballerblogger]

http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/2008/08/26/the-greatest-athlete-according-to-jackson/

At first glance, this seems preposterous. But athleticism encomposses more than jumping and running. It involves stamina and agility. Two qualities Rodman had in spades.

Rodman was only 6-7, an inch taller than Bryant and Jordan. And yet he led the league in rebounding seven consecutive seasons. He also defended everyone from Magic to Shaq.

I don't think Jackson's statement is far-fetched.

What do you think?

[timmay27]

lol @ Shaq listed in the poll that asks who was the greatest athlete Phil ever coached

His statement isn't far fetched but he might be just trying to avoid touching on the MJ-Kobe comparisons

[dreamcloud]

52% chose Kobe instead over everyone else on that site..what a surprise.

[Sedale Threatt]

lol @ Shaq listed in the poll that asks who was the greatest athlete Phil ever coached

His statement isn't far fetched but he might be just trying to avoid touching on the MJ-Kobe comparisons

Shaq was an incredible athlete in his prime. He was great not just because he was huge, but because he was also unbelievably quick and agile. Go look at that alley-oop he pulled down in the dying moments against Portland -- for a 7-foot, 350 pound man to lift himself off the floor, cup an alleyoop thrown behind him at the top of the square and bring it down with one hand almost defies description. It only looks easy because plays like that were so commonplace for him. To bad he neglected his fitness later in his career, because you might not see another player like him for 30 or 40 years.

That said, I don't think it's far-fetched at all to say that Rodman could be the best athlete Jackson ever coached. Jordan, Pippen, Rodman and Shaq -- not a bad group to pick from, especially considering you could probably squeeze Bryant in there, too.

The OP is dead on -- Rodman might not have been the greatest leaper, but he had just about everything else you'd want in an athlete -- stamina, timing, quickness, plus he was such a relentless worker. I think I've read somewhere that he could have been a world-class 400 sprinter if he'd had the training. I don't know how you gauge something like that, but he certainly had the gait for it.

[ronnymac2]

lol @ Shaq listed in the poll that asks who was the greatest athlete Phil ever coached

His statement isn't far fetched but he might be just trying to avoid touching on the MJ-Kobe comparisons

Shaq was an incredible athlete in his prime. He was great not just because he was huge, but because he was also unbelievably quick and agile. Go look at that alley-oop he pulled down in the dying moments against Portland -- for a 7-foot, 350 pound man to get himself off the floor, cup an alleyoop thrown behind him at the top of the square and bring it down with one hand almost defies description. It only looks easy because plays like that were so commonplace for him. To bad he neglected his fitness later in his career, because you might not see another player like him for 30 or 40 years.

That said, I don't think it's far-fetched at all to say that Rodman could be the best athlete Jackson ever coached. Jordan, Pippen, Rodman and Shaq -- not a bad group to pick from, especially considering you could probably squeeze Bryant in there, too.

The OP is dead on -- Rodman might not have been the greatest leaper, but he had just about everything else you'd want in an athlete -- stamina, timing, quickness, plus he was such a relentless worker. I think I've read somewhere that he could have been a world-class 400 sprinter if he'd had the training. I don't know how you gauge something like that, but he certainly had the gait for it.

excellent post. Shaq must have grabbed that ball 12 feet in the air. My favorite play ever.

Rodman def has an argument. I'd probably go with shaq or jordan, but rodman is def a unique athlete.

[HouMac]

lol @ Shaq listed in the poll that asks who was the greatest athlete Phil ever coached

Huh? Shaq is easily one of the 10 best athletes to ever play this game. He's right up there with MJ as 1 of the 2 best pure athletes Phil ever coached. I don't care what he says...Rodman, while a great athlete, simply was not as gifted as those 2.

[tsherkin]

Rodman's greatest athletic gift would have to be the speed of his second and third jumps, along with how quickly he reached his peak vertical. His pogo-stick jumping made rebounding way easier than for people without that kind of ability.

[INKtastic]

the definition of hustle

[Matt15]

Most athletic makes sense. Not necessarily most talented.

[East_Coast]

Phil knows what he's talking about. I'm not a bit surprised by this statement. Rodman was an athletic freak of the highest magnitude. Of course, Phil has coached better players, but measured in terms of pure athletic ability Rodman would definitely be my pick.

Watch any the Bad Boy Pistons' games and you'll notice that even the way Rodman ran was different -- kind of like someone bouncing on a pogo stick.

[InstantClassic]

Dennis Rodman and Shawn Marion are both that type of 6'7 guy that can rebound well and are freakishly athletic. They have 2 quite different games but have similarities.

[ChrisTheFuturePaul]

Shaq was an incredible athlete in his prime. He was great not just because he was huge, but because he was also unbelievably quick and agile. Go look at that alley-oop he pulled down in the dying moments against Portland -- for a 7-foot, 350 pound man to lift himself off the floor, cup an alleyoop thrown behind him at the top of the square and bring it down with one hand almost defies description. It only looks easy because plays like that were so commonplace for him. To bad he neglected his fitness later in his career, because you might not see another player like him for 30 or 40 years.

That said, I don't think it's far-fetched at all to say that Rodman could be the best athlete Jackson ever coached. Jordan, Pippen, Rodman and Shaq -- not a bad group to pick from, especially considering you could probably squeeze Bryant in there, too.

The OP is dead on -- Rodman might not have been the greatest leaper, but he had just about everything else you'd want in an athlete -- stamina, timing, quickness, plus he was such a relentless worker. I think I've read somewhere that he could have been a world-class 400 sprinter if he'd had the training. I don't know how you gauge something like that, but he certainly had the gait for it.

Got a youtube link?

[Johnny Kilroy]

The OP is dead on -- Rodman might not have been the greatest leaper, but he had just about everything else you'd want in an athlete -- stamina, timing, quickness, plus he was such a relentless worker. I think I've read somewhere that he could have been a world-class 400 sprinter if he'd had the training. I don't know how you gauge something like that, but he certainly had the gait for it.

ya know, i've read over 30 bulls books, and i am 99% certain that the story about rodman running the 400 came from either david halberstam's "playing for keeps" or roland lazenby's "blood on the horns".

it has been well documented that rodman was so insanely fast that the US olympic team literally begged him to run the 400. the running coaches firmly believed he would not only win gold, but break the world record as well. all i can say is, what an amazing athlete dennis was to be asked to run and expected to make history for a guy who never competed in track events in his life.

when i break out my old bulls dvds one of the most fascinating things to watch is not mj's dunks, scottie's end to end speed, but the way rodman ran down the court on the fast break. his stride is so long and so high, it's almost looks as if he was running in the air. his legs were a bigger portion of his body than most players i've seen, kind of like a giraffe. he didn't look human running. he looked like a gazelle.

[Friend_Of_Haley]

I heart Rodman.

[BigOrangeBalls]

When you look at height, weight, and overall impact, Steve Kerr is the clear choice.

[BruceO]

you see who's in my avator? The greatest rebounder in league history and probably the greatest defender. All those people he defended from jordan, to magic, to malone,to shaq, to hakeem to Bird. He was a great athlete and amazing for his height to compete like that. Dude needs to be in the hall of fame. The nba is too bent on being proper, setting an example and they're ending up not giving dude his due.
Just go and see what he did to peoples team record. teams won many more games with him in the roster. IF any team trying to make a leap right had him close to his prime or a player of his caliber would be considered a contender right now. He can defend kobe, Kg, he's the only one who I feel can defend lebron one on one, Duncan and pretty much anyone I'd feel comfortable having Rodman defend them. Dude was defending shaq, how sick is that?

[Jase]

Jackson coached Rodman? I thought Worm pretty much only listened to the voices in his head...

[Heat3]

This is PJ's attempt to motivate Kobe.

Can't say MJ cause too many MJ vs Kobe debates
Can't say Shaq cause too many Shaq vs Kobe debates
So throw in Rodman. He's a great athlete, but PJ always has ulterior motives for what he says.

People should be able to spot his tactics easily by now.

[Heyvoon24]

This is PJ's attempt to motivate Kobe.

Can't say MJ cause too many MJ vs Kobe debates
Can't say Shaq cause too many Shaq vs Kobe debates
So throw in Rodman. He's a great athlete, but PJ always has ulterior motives for what he says.

People should be able to spot his tactics easily by now.

smart man.

[Sedale Threatt]

Motivate him to do what, exactly? He can hardly practice or play any harder than he already does. And after coming so close to the brass ring and failing, I suspect he'll be more hungry, rather than less, coming into the season. So...