Michael Jordan lit a cigar to celebrate after winning his first championship with the Bulls in 1991. Red Auerbach’s cigar toward the end of a game signaled that the Celtics were close to winning. So, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that victory cigars and basketball championships have a connection. And these legends take their cigars seriously. Another former NBA legend with a passion for cigars is Dennis Rodman. And his interest is perhaps why he had several demands regarding the quality of cigars in his new line.

Last year, the Worm teamed up with Dreamers Cigars for a special edition limited to 250 boxes. Titled The Ring of Honor Cigar, it was launched in honor of Rodman being inducted into the Chicago Bulls Ring of Honor. He won three championship titles with the Bulls alongside Jordan. The founder of the brand, Adam Guard, called it “Connecticut’s best smoke.” However, creating it wasn’t easy for the brand.

They had never made a cigar before, and it was difficult. While Rodman guided the brand, he also had a few demands that posed challenges for Guard. But he didn’t give up. At first, he started looking for factories but struggled with communication issues.

 “I wanted to make a cigar out of Nicaragua. That was the very beginning. I cold-called factories. I don’t speak Spanish, so some of it was tricky, but you say there is anyone else around that can translate for us and and you keep digging until you find the right one,” he said during a conversation on Spartan Leadership Podcast.

Next, Guard had to work closely with the factories to find the right cigar and blend that matched Rodman’s personality, along with getting Rodman’s approval regarding the cigar and price. “His agent was amazing. Going through the process, but Dennis, we probably went through 8 to 10 samples. He knew what he wanted: his favorite cigar. Well was his favorite cigar of all time was a Montecristo white. So I told this factory, ‘We need to remaster this blend. We need to figure it out to make our own little twist that expresses Dennis’ aura,” he said.

Last but not least, Guard had to deal with time constraints. Some brands take over a year to create a cigar, but Rodman gave them a specific deadline. However, the brand managed to get it done. “Dennis said, ‘We need a cigar in X amount of time.’ And we said, you know, that’s like not how it’s done. Like I mean, people blend cigars over like 2 years, and we did it in about 5  months,” he added. Now this was impressive!

Despite the challenges, Guard overcame them all. Speaking of how it all began, he also revealed another surprising detail that Rodman wanted to collaborate with an NFL legend’s brand.

Dennis Rodman wanted to collaborate with Chad Ochocinco’s Eight Five 

During the interview, the founder of the brand shed light on several details before they collaborated with the Chicago Bulls legend. He shared that the 5x NBA Champ initially wanted to work with NFL player Ochocinco’s brand, Eighty5. The 47-year-old started his Cigar brand in 2016. The number is a nod to the NFL legend’s jersey. 

However, for one reason, the NFL legend’s brand couldn’t collaborate. And the Dreamers Cigar, which was consulting for the brand, then received the offer. “Dennis wanted to do a cigar with Chad, and they just couldn’t handle it. The bandwidth wasn’t enough, and they said, ‘Do you want to do Dennis’s cigar?’ And I said ‘Absolutely, I’d,'” Guard shared. As per HalfWheel, the factory that Guard mentioned in the podcast is likely the SCT factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. Each box is priced at $397.

While that didn’t work out with Johnson, Rodman found the fitting brand for his Ring of Honor collection. Rodman, too, isn’t a newcomer to the $14 billion valued industry (as per Statista). He had earlier launched his line of WB Brand Cigar. So, it is understandable why the Chicago Bulls legend had such a demand.