“They had bets in Vegas when I was 40 years old about what year I was going to die,” he tells me. Without the structure NBA life provided, without an outlet for all his energy, he found himself, and not for the first time in his life, aimless. Like other celebrities, Dennis was reportedly offered up to six figures from clubs all over the world to make an appearance, to be the main attraction for a night.īut he was still spending money faster than he could make it. He was almost 40 then, but still partied like it was his job. He once claimed to have slept with 2,000 women in his lifetime and, more harrowingly, once claimed to have broken his penis during sex three times. When his NBA career abruptly ended at the turn of the century, Dennis partied nonstop. A jogger on her evening run stops in her tracks to call a friend about the scene she’s come across, and I can hear her say “Dennis Rodman… that’s a crazy thing to run up on.” Cigar in hand, he makes his way over to the red carpet, all of the representatives for his new venture clearing a path, and poses for pictures. Custom Crocs and light-tinted shades, to show off his gold eyeshadow, complete the fit.
He arrives in a black SUV to a crowd anticipating the full Dennis Rodman experience, and he’s delivering with his look: His hair is dyed neon orange, and he’s wearing leopard-print sweats with a teal tank that features a flamingo in the middle. The festivities are set to take place at Salt7, which bills itself as an upscale steakhouse that pulls double duty as a nightclub.
I have no idea how to prepare for whatever could go down at a party hosted by one of the most notorious partiers of all time. Not only because we’re in Florida, where COVID surges seemed to be happening every week, but because this is Dennis Rodman we’re talking about.
When I see that there’s a Fort Lauderdale party on the agenda for my time with Dennis Rodman, I get nervous. “Freaks are called freaks and are treated as they are treated-in the main, abominably-because they are human beings who cause to echo, deep within us, our most profound terrors and desires.” -James Baldwin, “Freaks and the American Ideal of Manhood,” 1985