Dennis Rodman is arguably one of the most whimsical NBA players in the history of the league. Be it showing up in a wedding dress or changing his hair color frequently or wearing distinctive makeup. There’s hardly anything that Rodman hasn’t done. But if you take a look at his childhood, you might think that the former Bulls player was making up for the privileges he never got as a kid. He might be known as an NBA legend now, but his childhood was difficult. It could be said that Dennis had a significantly rough childhood.

From growing up without a father to ending up in jail for a night, Rodman has gone through some very taxing time. He was even homeless for some time before he was scouted for his skills. The scouts then offered him a basketball scholarship to Southeastern Oklahoma.

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That was all he needed to start a new life and forget the violence he was exposed to as a teenager. Yes, according to the great rebounder, his family would force him to get into fights when he was just a teen.

Dennis Rodman talked about the time he got into violence

In an interview with Sean Kim, Rodman recalled a few bits from his troublesome past. Referring to his choice of clothes and lifestyle, Kim asked Dennis if he had any male figure in his life who tried to impose societal pressures on him. The former Bulls player replied that his uncle and cousins would often tease him for his dressing choice. He said that they would call him names and make fun of him for hanging out with girls. He further added that his cousins and uncle would often force him to fight other guys.

“I think my cousin grabbed me one day, ‘we’re gonna make you fight these two guys, see what counts. If you’re a man or you’re a girl.’ They used to take me out there all the weekends and try to make me fight guys…yeah, my uncle did.” said Rodman.

Furthermore, he added “But I never fight anybody and they would that every week until I started to fight back, and they said ‘I guess you’re not effeminate.‘”

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During the interview, Rodman revealed that his “effeminate” dressing derived from him looking up to female role models in his life. Because the five-time NBA champion didn’t have a father in his life, he used to look up to his sisters and other women as father figures and role models to emulate.

However, society often wouldn’t take Rodman’s habits very favorably.