Dennis Rodman Loved Las Vegas So Much That He Travelled There During NBA Finals

Published on March 20th, 2024 11:26 am EST


Billy Corgan, lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins, and NBA superstar Dennis Rodman were certainly an odd pair of friends.

The two men loved hanging out together and often found themselves in Las Vegas together.

One such trip is now the stuff of legend, as it took place DURING the 1996-97 NBA Finals.

-

It was June 6th, 1997, and Dennis Rodman wanted to gamble.

The Chicago Bulls had just lost Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz by a score of 104-93.

Most players would retreat to their hotel rooms to regroup - after all, the Chicago Bulls were still up 2-1 in the series, and were still the favorites to win.

Dennis Rodman, however, had other plans.

One of Rodman's good friends, Billy Corgan, was in attendance at the game. After the game, an unnamed billionaire told Rodman that he was taking his private jet to Las Vegas, and was welcome to join him.

Rodman was looking forward to some gambling and decided to go, even though he had a media session the very next day.

Corgan agreed to go as well.

-

The two men partied it up in Las Vegas, pulling a literal all-nighter before boarding a plane back to Utah.

Rodman had no sleep when he pulled up to the team shootaround and media session. Corgan was suffering from lack of sleep, watching everything from the stands.

Corgan assumed that the two men would go back to their respective hotel rooms to crash. Rodman, however, had another idea.

We've got another free night now, Rodman announced. Let's head back to Vegas!

There was no billionaire private plane this time around - if the two men wanted to get to Vegas, they'd have to fly commercial.

Corgan turned down the offer, choosing instead to sleep and play mini golf. Rodman went to Vegas to continue his party, and arrived back before the next playoff game.

-

The Bulls would lose Game 4 of the series as well, before going on to win the next two games and the NBA championship.

Most players would NOT have been able to get away with what Rodman did, but the Bulls agreed to give him a very long leash when Rodman signed with the team.

They likely weren't expecting just how long the leash would end up being.