It’s the middle of the NBA season, your favorite team is making a push for their third straight championship and sixth in eight years. Suddenly one of the team’s star players wants a “break.”

He approaches the team, they grant him leave and he heads to Las Vegas to party all day and night until another one of the team’s star players goes to Vegas to pull him back out of it. Can you imagine?

If Klay Thompson or Draymond Green had done that and Steph Curry or KD had to retrieve him. Klay/Dray would be vilified for eternity. But that’s exactly what happened on the 1997-98 Bulls. When Scottie Pippen returned from injury, Dennis Rodman took what was supposed to be a 48-hour leave, overextended it and Michael Jordan had to go pull him out of bed.

So what allowed this to happen? Did the Bulls change Dennis Rodman or did Rodman changes the culture of the Bulls? Paul Pierce believes that what Rodman brought to the table on the court outweighed the things off the court. He even compared it to load management.

“I absolutely believe that Dennis Rodman changed the Bulls. In a system where you have great leadership, great coach, people who are very demaning of your practice habits…you have to give way to what Dennis Rodman brought to the court. Dennis was always going to be Dennis. But as long as he gave you 110 percent on the court, you could live with some of his off the court antics.” 

Watch below as Tracy McGrady gives credit for Rodman’s one-of-a-kind personality to…Madonna?