So little Dennis Wennis is tired of pwaying basketball? Little Dennis Wennis can’t get motivated? Little Dennis Wennis want his pacifier now?
You listen to Rodman long enough and you wonder why the Bulls don’t call his silly bluffs. The season isn’t seven games old, and already Rodman has declared himself unfocused, disinterested and generally bored with basketball.
This latest Rodman revelation comes as the Bulls attempt to win a third consecutive NBA championship with Scottie Pippen in street clothes, with Michael Jordan carrying the team as if it were an overstuffed backpack, with the clock ticking on the tenure of the very man who stuck up for Rodman–Phil Jackson. It happens with Bill Wennington’s elbow throbbing, with Ron Harper’s knees aching, with every team trying to take advantage of any Chicago vulnerability.
Worse yet, Rodman even said he doesn’t need to prove himself as the NBA’s best rebounder. This is news to the Bulls, who aren’t paying him $4.5 million for his point guard skills.
Jordan, who doesn’t have time for such nonsense, wants Rodman to “go home” if his attitude doesn’t improve. Here’s guessing Rodman wouldn’t have trouble finding teammates to help him pack.
And it would take exactly one nanosecond to locate someone willing to replace Rodman on a dynasty’s last run. Someone such as Kris Bruton. Someone who would appreciate history.
Bruton, now a 26-year-old forward, was part of a forgettable 1994 Bulls draft. Dickey Simpkins in the first round. Bruton, from little Benedict College, in the second.
There isn’t much to tell about his career, mostly because he hasn’t had much of one. He went to that first training camp, got cut, got instructions from General Manager Jerry Krause to play in the Continental Basketball League, and later was named to the CBA’s all-rookie team.
The next season he went to another Bulls camp, got hurt, eventually got healthy and, of course, got cut.
Last season he played in Japan. If he never sees another bowl of raw squid, it won’t be too soon.
Monday morning Bruton was on a charter bus to Rockford for an afternoon scrimmage between the Lightning and his newest CBA team, the La Crosse Bobcats. After the scrimmage, the Bobcats drove to Grand Rapids, Mich. They play an exhibition game Tuesday night, return Wednesday to training camp in tiny Winona, Minn., break camp on Thursday, have a scrimmage that afternoon in La Crosse, Wis., a team dinner at the coach’s house, and then open their season with a Friday and Saturday homestand against the Yakima Sun Kings, followed by the Sioux Falls Sky Force.
This is Bruton’s life. This is also why Bruton, who would crawl on all fours to the United Center for a chance to play with the Bulls, politely wonders what Rodman could possibly be thinking. Motivational troubles? Retirement?
“It doesn’t make any sense, that comment to me,” said Bruton, who was reached on his coach’s cellular phone while busing to Rockford. “Speaking personally, I would do anything just to be on that team. He’s playing with the world champions. It’s not like he’s playing with ordinary guys. He’s playing with the greatest player in the world. The player.”
Bruton isn’t criticizing, just questioning. He played against Jordan in that 1994 training camp, and remembers every delicious moment.
“It’s hard to explain how great he is,” Bruton said. “Basically, he’s the main person who always has amazed me. Other players do something and you ooh or aah. But when you’re watching Mike, you’re just stunned. Same goes for watching Scottie.”
Bruton has never lost his basketball innocence. He was–and continues to be–awestruck not only by Jordan’s and Pippen’s talent, but also by their complete dedication to a championship quest. And until recently, he thought Rodman shared that same obsession.
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“A hard worker,” said Bruton, who faced Rodman during the 1995 training camp. “He never lounged around when I was there.”
Rodman has his own line of shoes. Bruton has a pair of shoes. Rodman earns millions. Bruton earns between $800 and $3,000 a week–he wouldn’t say for sure. Rodman makes movies. Bruton can barely afford Blockbuster. Rodman appears on Sports Illustrated covers. Bruton, who is sweating out cut-down day, would settle for being in the Bobcats’ game program.
So the next time Rodman chirps away about lacking desire, he might want to remember Bruton. Or better yet, maybe the Bulls might want to remember Bruton.
“If I ever got the opportunity, I would play as hard as I could, day in and day out,” he said. “Not focused? I don’t think I could ever say that.”
Unlike Rodman, he isn’t bluffing.