Wing Bowl 24 Even Shocks Dennis Rodman
PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — Dennis Rodman said he got in at 4 in the morning from Las Vegas and it showed. The Hall of Famer's eyes were half-mast. He spoke in a hushed tone as if anything excessively loud would crack his head, which must have felt like egg shells. He looked tired. Worn out. Though something happened when he walked out to the Wells Fargo Arena floor Friday morning as the celebrity guest for Wing Bowl 24 that had the impact of a 12-megaton alarm clock—his eyes lit up.
Rodman, his 15 minutes of fame stretched beyond belief, has been to his share of strange worlds in his amazing, and sometimes-turbulent NBA career. However, he's never been to anything as bizarre as Wing Bowl.
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"This is nuts!" was Rodman's first reaction when he walked out to the horde that drowned him out when he tried to address them.
He even seemed a little unsure whether or not he was in Philadelphia.
"What's it called, this is a little too early for me, bro, and this is Philly, right?" Rodman asked, rhetorically. "The only time I come to Philly is when I go to Delilah's. That's the only time I come to Philly."
You would figure the king of mayhem would bask in the debauchery. But he didn't. Rodman was laid back and cool in his jeans and funky shaded glasses.
A few things were off limits to "The Worm." One was North Korea. He had warned anyone broaching the subject, and he would walk away from the media gathered to speak with him. He's been to the country four times, and personally knows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. When he walked out of the tunnel, one of the first things out of fan's mouth was "Been to North Korea lately?"
One subject that wasn't taboo was the sorry state of Philadelphia's NBA team, the Sixers. Rodman tried his best to be diplomatic.
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"I better watch my words, right, they're improving, they're improving," said Rodman, who to a degree is treated with the kid-glove celebrity status. "They started 0-29, or something like that, but it takes time to jell, right?"
But the low-hanging question had to be broached: What was he doing here?
"I have no idea, they found me up in the graveyard and said come up here and join us," said Rodman, who's living in Florida right now. "A lot of people don't see me too much these days. I'm down in Miami, South Beach, or whatever hanging out trying to live life. I thought this was something like the hot dog (eating) contest, right? It's a wing contest and who can eat that much wings, especially at 7 in the morning. I can't take down none (wings), man. I've had my share of women, over 2,000. But damn, that's kind of cool, right? I like wings every once in a while. At 4 or 5 in the morning, when I'm hung-over.
"This is nuts, man. People tailgating at 3, 4 in the morning. I've been to some tailgating, and these guys are already lit up. I'm going to get my helmet on, put my mouthpiece on and suck it up baby. I'll take this in for a minute."