Times wires
Monday, April 4, 2011
HOUSTON — Dennis Rodman earned plenty of labels during his sometimes turbulent NBA career.
Here's one the player who created chaos on — and sometimes off — the court never expected: Hall of Famer. Rodman headlined the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2011 class announced Monday at the Final Four, a group that includes former Dream Team member Chris Mullin and Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer.
"It's just unreal," Rodman said.
And somewhat unexpected, at least to the two-time NBA defensive player of the year and five-time NBA champion who believed his extracurricular activities — including donning a wedding dress to marry himself and kicking a photographer in the groin — would overshadow his accomplishments.
"I looked at the way I am, and I thought I wouldn't get in," Rodman said.
Also part of the class: coaches Tex Winter, innovator of the triangle offense, and Philadelphia University's Herb Magee; longtime NBA and ABA star Artis Gilmore; former Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis; Olympic gold medalist Teresa Edwards; Harlem Globetrotter Reece "Goose" Tatum; and Boston Celtic Tom "Satch" Sanders.
For VanDerveer, Monday's announcement was bittersweet, coming just hours after her Stanford team lost 63-62 to Texas A&M in an NCAA Tournament national semifinal.
"This is kind of a tough morning to be a basketball coach for me waking up after our loss last night," she said on a conference call. "This opportunity to be enshrined in Naismith is an incredible honor, and I'm overwhelmed by it."