Worm Heads For Hollywood L.A.

February 13, 1999 / 2:21 AM EST / AP

Dennis Rodman, the NBA's seven-time rebounding champ and one of the league's most flamboyant players, has decided to play for the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

Rodman, known for his dyed hair and cross-dressing as well as his ferocious defense and rebounds, has agreed to play for the veterans' minimum of $1 million pro-rated to $600,000 for this lockout shortened season, sources told the Times in a story published Saturday.

He will also earn $3 million from an endorsement contract with Converse, the Times said.

Rodman's agent, Steve Chasman of International Creative Management, has been negotiating with the team for the past two weeks. Talks became sidetracked for a week while they discussed a possible movie deal with Fox, which holds an option to buy into the Lakers as a 10 percent partner.

The 6-foot-8 forward, the NBA's top rebounder in each of the last seven seasons, has been laying low at his Newport Beach home before finally agreeing to meet with Lakers officials on Thursday.

Phone calls left for Lakers spokesman John Black and Rodman's representatives at ICM were not returned late Friday.

Rodman, who turns 38 in May, has played on five of the last 10 NBA champions, including the last three with the Chicago Bulls.

After Michael Jordan's retirement and the team's subsequent break-up, however, he was cut loose by Chicago.

Rodman had expressed interest in playing for Orlando and Miami as well as Los Angeles, but he was irked at Heat coach Pat Riley's public insistence that he follow team rules. Magic coach Chuck Daly, Rodman's first pro coach at Detroit, tried to cut a deal but was overruled by owner Rich DeVos.

The Lakers soon became his only option.

Rodman's signing would be a boost for the Lakers, which failed to sign a marquee power forward to help O'Neal shoulder the rebounding burden.

"Any team can use his physical ability," first-year Lakers guard Derek Harper said before the season began. "The problem with Dennis is how he's going to conduct himself off the basketball court."

Three seasons ago he was suspended by the NBA for head-butting referee Ted Bernhardt. A season later he was suspended by the Chicago Bulls for cussing on a live postgame show and by the league for kicking a photographer in the crotch during a game.

He is regularly late for everything, from team photo sessions to practices. During last year's Bulls-Jazz finals series, he skipped practice to wrestle with Hollywood Hulk Hogan.

Rodman's arrival would cap a bizarre past two months in which Rodman announced he was retiring, then changed his mind and said he wanted to return to professional basketball.

He also recently married longtime girlfriend Carmen Electra, although days later there were reports of an annulment filing. But in another wacky twist, the "Hyperion Bay" actress later dened the marriage was off.

His career scoring average is just 7.5 points, but he is one of the great rebounders in league history with a 13.2 average. No other player ever won seven straight rebounding titles.