Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2010

It’s curious that some people seem to have forgotten Dennis Rodman. Seriously, how much higher-profile can you get? If Michael Jordan is at the top of the NBA tree, Rodman—his Chicago Bulls teammate for five years—was just a couple branches down. He also wrote the book on body decorations and partying, making him probably the most visible (and perhaps the most risible) figure in the sport’s history.

All of which means that you can expect a ton of publicity when Rodman heads to Japan next month to appear in Street2Elite, a street basketball contest that will pit the best players on the home circuit against the pick of the USA. He’ll be accompanied by another former NBA star, Tracy Murray, a 3-point specialist who once scored 50 points for the Washington Wizards. The Japan team was decided in a championship game on July 3, and Rodman himself will select the most valuable player.

A spokesman for organizers Sports Biz says that Street2Elite is a whole new ballgame. “There have been similar tours of countries in Europe, but as far as I am aware, the mixing of former NBA players and street basketball players is a new format for an event in Japan.”

The Street2Elite games will be played 5-on-5 on a full court with two baskets, and scoring will follow the standard rules (2- and 3-point shots, 1-point free throws). As with most events of this kind, the action will be accompanied by an MC and DJ, and there will be a halftime show.

Like the NFL, NHL and other major leagues, the NBA has played regular season games in Japan. Local stars such as Yuta Tabuse and Kei Igarashi have helped boost the game here. According to the spokesman, the basketball boom all started with the legendary Chicago Bulls team of the mid-’90s.

“In Japan, Dennis Rodman is one of the most famous NBA players of all time, mainly because he played for the Chicago Bulls during their golden era with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, when they did the ‘three-peat,’” he says. Rodman’s book, Bad as I Wanna Be, was a big seller in Japan. In addition, he is said to have been the model for Hanamichi Sakuragi, the main character in the popular comic Slam Dunk.”

That fits Rodman perfectly. While always a supreme athlete on the court, he was little more than a comic character off it. A five-time NBA champion (twice with the Detroit Pistons, three times with the Bulls), he led the league in rebounds for seven straight years (1992-98). Yet his personal life often eclipsed his sporting achievements, marked by expressions of extreme individuality (tattoos, piercings, freaky hair styles) and relationships with Madonna and the MTV star Carmen Electra (to whom he was briefly married).

Still, despite dalliances as an actor, DJ and pro wrestler, Rodman remains a basketball man at heart, and the more flamboyant style of street ball should be right up his alley.

Street2Elite
Aug 19, 7pm. ¥3,000-¥12,900. Ariake Colosseum. Tel: 03-5436-9600. www.street2elite.jp