Rodman Wants To Sign With Lakers

Somehow, Dennis Rodman outdid even himself.

In a news conference Monday at Planet Hollywood that had all the twists and turns of a soap opera, Rodman berated the media, complained about playing for the "minimum wage," broke into tears and announced he will join the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers, in a separate statement, said they hope to sign him "very soon."

At first, Rodman played it coy and only revealed that he had talks with the Lakers and might play for them. After an angry reporter demanded Rodman be more definitive regarding his future plans, the seven-time rebounding king grew belligerent.

"You don't have to be here if you don't want to be here, you can walk out that door," Rodman said to the reporter. "OK, I do want to play for the Lakers. Are you satisfied? Now you can go."

That set the tone for a bizarre news conference in which Rodman complained about being paid the minimum, yet claimed he plays for the people and not the money and then broke into tears when a reporter branded him a selfish player.

"Whatever I do in the game of basketball, I will never win," said Rodman after taking some time to compose himself after tears flowed from under his sunglasses. "I'm playing for the minimum wage. With my donation to charity, I'll only be making about $150,000, yet I'm still not going to win with you guys (the media). If that's selfish, you let me know.

"All these guys (NBA players) bitch and I'm playing for $150,000. Why am I playing basketball? You tell me."

Representatives of teh Lakers did not attend the news conference. Rodman said that was because the team was out of town.

"We've been saying for the past couple of weeks that we would like to have Dennis Rodman on our team," general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a statement a short time later. "Now that he has announced his desire and intention to play for us we hope to sign a deal and see him in a Lakers' uniform sometime very soon."

Rodman hopes to sign a contract with the Lakers Monday night after meeting with owner Jerry Buss and plans to play his first game Thursday against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Arrowhead Pond. He said he will receive $495,000, which is currently the pro-rated total for a player under the veterans' minimum of $1 million. He earned $9 million last season.

Accompanied by his new wife, actress Carmen Electra, Rodman even took some shots at his new teammates.

"All these guys want to be superstars, but here everybody has to play a role," Rodman said. "Shaq's (Shaquille O'Neal) a superstar, Kobe Bryant's a superstar, Eddie Jones is a superstar, if he's here. But we have to play together."

The 37-year-old Rodman has been part of five NBA champions. He also won titles with the Detoit Pistons in 1989 and 1990 and has averaged 7.5 points and 13.2 rebounds in his career.

His rebounding expertise, however, comes at a price much higher. He has been suspended six times in the last seven years, including twice by the league, and once kicked a cameraman in the groin.

Easily identified by his tatoos and ever-changing hair color, Rodman has a history of missing practices and team flights and ignoring coaches and team rules.

Rodman began his NBA career with the Pistons in 1986 and was a key member of their back-to-back championship teams. He was NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991 and earned All-Star berths in 1990 and 1992.

Rodman began his string of rebounding titles with Detroit in 1992 and continued the streak in 1994 and 1995 with the San Antonio Spurs. Acquired by the Bulls in October 1995, Rodman is the only player in NBA history to lead a major statistical category with three different teams.

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