{"product_id":"bad-as-i-wanna-be-isbn-9780440222668","title":"Bad as I Wanna Be","description":"\u003cb\u003eA wild ride inside the glowing head of Dennis Rodman—the NBA's greatest rebounder and America's most outspoken and outrageous athlete.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen \u003ci\u003eSports Illustrated\u003c\/i\u003e put the man they call \"America's most provocative athlete\" on their cover, they sold more copies than any other issue they had sold in a decade (except the swimsuit issue). Why? Because Dennis Rodman has more in common with Mick Jagger than with his teammate Michael Jordan. With his body-covering tattoos and ever-changing fluorescent hair, Rodman's sideline antics and celebrated benchings captivated sports fans as much as his record-breaking on-court performances and earned him a reputation as a rebel with the same penchant for shocking behavior as his on-again off-again squeeze, Madonna.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eBad as I Wanna Be\u003c\/i\u003e he shares his surprising and candid opinions on:\u003cbr\u003e• Mortality: “If I die young, everybody’s going to say they saw it coming.”\u003cbr\u003e• His game: “I never want to score. Never. I want to rebound.”\u003cbr\u003e• Having it all: “From the outside I had everything I could want. From the inside I had nothing but an empty soul and a gun in my lap.”\u003cbr\u003e. . . And so much more, including his life, from going to prison for stealing watches to his daughter, the light of his life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt a time when most celebrities and professional athletes try to control their public personas like politicians and refrain from expressing their true beliefs, Dennis Rodman is a refreshingly unique, uncompromising individual who both transcends his world and refuses to conform to it. \u003ci\u003eBad as I Wanna Be\u003c\/i\u003e is as candid, intriguing, and unforgettable as he is.\u003cb\u003eDennis Rodman\u003c\/b\u003e is a seven-time NBA rebounding champion. He earned five NBA championships rings in his 14-year career: 1989 and ’90 with the Detroit Pistons and 1996, ’97, and ’98 with the Chicago Bulls. He has also been named Defensive Player of the Year twice (1990, ’91); All-NBA Third Team twice (1992, ’95); All-Defensive First Team seven times (1989-92, ’93, ’95, ’96); and an NBA All-Star twice (1990, ’92). In 2011, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Rodman is the author of two other books: \u003ci\u003eBad As I Wanna Be\u003c\/i\u003e (1994), a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller that reached #1; and \u003ci\u003eWalk on the Wild Side\u003c\/i\u003e (1997).At that point in her life Madonna was ready to settle down.  She was really cool to be around--mellow, low-key, caring.  She has this public image of being hard and tough, but underneath that she's a sensitive person.  She likes to be held and comforted.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI wasn't ready to settle down, though.  She wanted me to calm down a little and be happier just hanging with her and living a slower lifestyle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe used to say, \"I've been through that stage.  I've been wild and crazy.\" \u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eShe wanted me to get through my wild stage, too,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e but I couldn't just drop everything.  I was still having fun, still looking for new challenges.  I wanted to go out on my boat, hang with my friends, but she couldn't do that.  If she did, everyone would have gone ballistic.  \u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eShe was always looking for places where \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eshe could BE A PERSON and NOT MADONNA,\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eand that was hard for her.  She couldn't just come down to Dallas and hang out with me and my friends.  They'd be too freaked out, and it would end up being a bad situation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI don't have to be hidden behind closed doors.  The way I look at it, if people get used to seeing something, pretty soon it's a regular thing.  Before long, seeing me out at a club isn't a big deal.  I tried to get her to go out, but I think she's pretty much afraid of going out.  In her position, there's a little fear about what people might do to her.  \u003cb\u003eYOU NEVER KNOW WHEN SOME CRAZY PERSON IS GOING TO START STALKING YOU\u003c\/b\u003e when you're that high-profile, like that Hoskins guy who said if he couldn't have her he'd slice her throat from ear to ear--the guy her bodyguard shot.  She couldn't even go out to dinner that easily; there's always the chance people would mob her, swallow her up, and not let her move.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a way, it's sad.  She's such a prisoner of her fame.  She can't do the kinds of things normal people do.  Almost everywhere she goes is a big fucking scene. People notice me and bother me for autographs and everything, but I'm not going to let that keep me from doing the things I want to do.  If I want to go out, I'll go out.  I want to be as normal as I can be.  Madonna can't really do that.  There are just a few places she can go to be normal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe's a great lady.  If you watch her on TV or in her videos, you get the perception of her as a real hard person who says \"Fuck\" for twenty minutes on David Letterman.  In person, \u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eshe's nothing like that. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e I don't remember her swearing to excess when we were out together.  She always handled herself elegantly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe never had any problems.  It was one of the easiest relationships I'd ever been in.  The sex was great--not the greatest, but good enough--but there was more to it than that.  We understood each other so well, it was almost scary.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut as sweet as she was, whenever I was with her I always knew I was around a woman who had power and knew how to wield it.  She is a big-time businesswoman, and she knows exactly what she wants.  Just look at the way she got me to come to Miami: she got hooked up with \u003ci\u003eVibe \u003c\/i\u003emagazine, then used that to get me down there.  She wanted to meet me, so she made it happen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe can have anybody she wants.  She's got all the money in the world.  She's a powerful woman.  That's what appealed to me about her.  \u003cb\u003eThere was nothing else in it for her.\u003c\/b\u003e  There was nothing I had that she wanted.  There were no strings; it was all just liking the person and enjoying being with them.  I didn't have to wonder whether the roof was going to cave in and she was going to start wanting my money.  Hell, \u003cb\u003eMY MONEY WAS POCKET CHANGE FOR HER.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd the sex was very entertaining, which helped.  It was entertaining but it wasn't something that needs to be exploited.  It wasn't wild, crazy, and kinky. It wasn't like that at all; it was just very entertaining.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEverybody thinks she would have the greatest, wildest sex in the world, and every guy wants to sleep with Madonna. I got to where I didn't think of her that way.  We were comfortable together, and the sex was perfectly natural and satisfying.  \u003cb\u003eSHE WASN'T AN ACROBAT, BUT SHE WASN'T A DEAD FISH EITHER.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI HAVE TO COME CLEAN ON ONE THING:\u003c\/b\u003e The whole time I was with Madonna, I had a girlfriend named Kim.  She was living with me in San Antonio, but the relationship was messed up because I thought she was lying about who she was. She also kept saying she had all this money.  It turned out she was feeding me a bunch of lies and that made it easier for me to see Madonna with a clear conscience.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKim knew I was seeing Madonna, and that caused some problems.  She knew our relationship was dead.  She saw all those faxes and letters from Madonna.  She knew I was talking to Madonna all the time.  We broke up, and I started seeing Madonna more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter we broke up, I took Kim to Las Vegas.  I wanted to go to Las Vegas, and I didn't want go by myself so I took Kim.  The first night we're there, Madonna's assistant comes up to me at the craps tables and says, \u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"There's someone who wants to see you upstairs.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e She didn't normally travel with an entourage, but she brought it along this time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI'm thinking, Oh, God.  And \u003cb\u003eMADONNA WAS RIGHT THERE.\u003c\/b\u003e  She tracked me down in Las Vegas.  I'm there with Kim, and Madonna found out and followed me. She was not only there, but she was \u003cb\u003eIN THE ROOM \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRIGHT NEXT DOOR.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e She found out what room I was in and got herself hooked up with the one next to it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMadonna knew I loved Las Vegas, and when she found out I'd left San Antonio, she went to Las Vegas.  I guess anybody could do that with me, because I'm pretty predictable that way.  When I go party, I go to Las Vegas.  When I go to Las Vegas, I stay at the Mirage.  Madonna figured that out, then found out what room I was in and got the one next door.  I told you--she's one woman who knows what she wants and knows how to get it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo after Madonna's assistant got me, I left the table--by myself--and went to see Madonna.  We were in the stairwell, and she was saying, \u003cb\u003e\"YOU LOVE ME. YOU WANT TO BE WITH ME.  LEAVE WITH ME RIGHT NOW AND FORGET YOUR GIRLFRIEND.\"\u003c\/b\u003e  So what did I do? I think obviously I did the right thing by going and getting my shit and leaving with Madonna.  We got on a plane and went back to her house in Los Angeles.  Kim got home okay, but there wasn't much left of our relationship after that.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*       *       *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBad As I Wanna Be\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFifty percent of life in the NBA is sex.  The other fifty percent is money....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn an April night in 1993 I sat in the cab of my pickup truck with a rifle in my lap, deciding whether to kill myself....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMadonna looked at me all sexy and said, \"You're staying with me, in my room.\"...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI don't expect Scottie Pippen to forgive me for what I did to him.  I don't expect him to forget about it either....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI've been homeless.  I've worked at 7-Eleven.  I'm a real person, with real experiences, not some image that somebody in the NBA office created....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen you talk about race in basketball, the whole thing is simple: a black player knows he can go out on the court and kick a white player's ass....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI used to go through the whole routine--dress up, wear makeup, act like a girl....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThose guys in San Antonio can kiss my ass, especially Gregg Popovich, the general manager...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePopovich wanted to be the guy who tamed Dennis Rodman....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI knew I would have been just another nigger if I didn't play basketball....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow much do you really want to win when you have as much money, attention, and fame as Shaquille O'Neal does?...White women get into relationships with black men because they think the sex is going to be better....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs long as I play ball, I can get any woman I want.  But there's no scoreboard in my bedroom.  Wilt Chamberlain lied when he said he had 20,000 women.  Wilt should open his own sperm bank....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI can go out to a salon and have my nails painted pink, and then go out and play in the NBA, on national television, with pink nails....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI wanted to be white because I was black, and black was never the right color....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI see Chris Dudley, Derrick Coleman, Dale Davis, and Anthony Mason making huge money, and I see injustice.  Who buys a ticket to see these guys play?...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI left the table--by myself--and went to see Madonna.  We were in a stairwell, and she was saying, \"You love me.  You want to be with me.  Leave with me right now and forget your girlfriend.\"...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf I die young, everybody's going to say they saw it coming....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Spurs might be more of a basketball team if David Robinson didn't freeze up every time they play a big game....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhenever someone would ask Phil Jackson if anything I've done surprised him, he would always say, \"Yeah, it surprised me that he needs a special tool to take his pressurized earrings out.\"...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou're going to have to find a way to stop me on your own, bro, and nobody's found it yet.","brand":"Dell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46299732803813,"sku":"NP9780440222668","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780440222668_2aa2db7b-cee8-41ae-8563-755afe5110df.jpg?v=1767722099","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/bad-as-i-wanna-be-isbn-9780440222668","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}