Once upon a time, Shaquille O'Neal and Dennis Rodman became teammates in the Los Angeles Lakers. On paper, this seems like a recipe for success. However, things turned out otherwise. During an episode of O'Neal's podcast The Big Podcast with Shaq, he explained why he disliked being teammates with Rodman.
O'Neal revealed that Rodman would show up late to team meetings. To make things worse, whenever Dennis did show up, he'd be eating in front of everyone and not show interest in what the coach had to say. Nevertheless, Rodman still provided what was asked of him and that was to secure the boards for the Lakers. Despite the positives, Shaq still wasn't a fan of the three-time champion.
“[Dennis Rodman] will come in, the meeting is at 5:30, he'll come in 40 minutes on the clock eating chicken and rice not paying attention,” O'Neal said. “Doing it in the middle of the meeting. Takes a cold shower. Not paying attention. We go out first and he'll come out. He'll get you 25 rebounds. Stinking like a motherf***er, put his clothes on and go to the club and have the baddest woman I've ever seen in my life.”
O'Neal then hilariously shared more information about why he disliked Rodman. The big man said that Dennis would wear his regular clothes and head straight to the club after a game without cleaning himself up. What Shaq couldn't fathom was that Rodman still managed to secure a bunch of models while having a foul smell.
“I'm like this motherf***er stink,” O'Neal exclaimed. “He smells like garbage truck water and he got models on him at the club. … I ain't ever seen what I've seen with Dennis Rodman. I was mad. Not because he had the girl, but because he didn't wash his a**.”
Shaquille O'Neal's bust season with Dennis Rodman in 1999
Shaquille O'Neal and Dennis Rodman were once teammates in the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1999 NBA season. By this time, Shaq was the most dominant big man in the league and his star was shining the brightest. The Lakers promised the big man they would provide him with the right pieces to achieve his first NBA title. However, things didn't exactly go according to plan when they brought in Dennis Rodman, who played a pivotal role in Michael Jordan's second three-peat just a season prior.
Despite Rodman providing 11.2 rebounds per game, it wasn't enough to help the duo of Shaq and Kobe Bryant. During this time O'Neal averaged 26.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game. As for Bryant, he produced 19.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. Unfortunately, their numbers weren't enough to help them find success in the playoffs as they secured the fourth seed in the West and got swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round.
