Chicago Bulls: Dennis Rodman went from rival to teammate

The Chicago Bulls turned Dennis Rodman from a heated rival to a beloved star in the city of Chicago when they brought him in.

Some people might have watched the ESPN 30 for 30 “Long Gone Summer” last night and didn’t really like it. It was on Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs and Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals in their chase for the single-season home run record in 1998. It was on the sloppy side and it really made us appreciate “The Last Dance” documentary on the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls. The dust settled from that documentary now but one thing has me thinking about a forgotten topic.

Dennis Rodman was a big part of the Bulls dynasty in the second half. People in Chicago love him and rightfully so because he was so good for our hometown team. It is just a bit strange because of the fact that he was a bitter rival before his arrival in the windy city. He literally went from foe to friend in just a few quick seasons.

Rodman played for the biggest Bulls rival at the time in the Detroit Pistons. He won two NBA titles with them in 1989 and 1990. In those glory days of the Pistons, they were directly in the way of the Chicago Bulls who were trying to get on that level. At first, the Bulls failed to get past them and win anything but we all know the story about how that eventually happened.

Well, a few years later Rodman came over to Chicago. He went to the team that helped make the Pistons really fall off. In all three years that he spent with the Bulls, he brought his total of rings up to five. It was a great career for Dennis as he went from rival to teammate.

He formed the perfect tri with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. They had everything the core of a championship team needs with those three. It was incredible to see in this documentary because it went from highlighting how hated those pistons teams were to one of their key players coming to play on our side.