Iverson's official height is 1.83 meters, the actual height is less than 1.8 meters, and the weight is 75 kilograms, which belongs to the shorter category of players in the NBA. Rodman is 2.01 meters tall and weighs 100 kilograms, and his height belongs to the shorter category of interior players, but he is tall and strong compared to Iverson.
Two players with a height difference of 18 centimeters and a weight difference of 25 kilograms have clashed, seemingly a match without suspense, but the result ended in Rodman's concession, why would Rodman instigate in the case of height and weight advantages? And listen to me slowly.
In 1996, Iverson was selected by the 76ers with the first pick in the first round, he scored 30 points in his NBA debut, and since then he has always had a brilliant performance, the 21-year-old became a high-profile supernova, plus he was born on the street, his personality was untamed, no matter who was not in the eyes, no matter who was opposite, no matter who was afraid, even if this person was the infamous "big bug" Rodman.
In a regular season in the 1996-1997 season, the 76ers met the Eastern Conference bulls, and the Bulls taught Iverson's young and vigorous Iverson a lesson with excellent team defense: Iverson was mistaken by Pippen and Cole in a breakthrough, the referee awarded the ball to the Bulls, Iverson wanted to make up for the mistake he had just made, so he stepped forward to interfere with Rodman's serve and tried to complete the steal, but due to the excessive action, the referee blew a foul, rodman applauded and provoked as he walked back. This undoubtedly added fuel to the fire of Iverson, who was angry.
After more than a minute, the 76ers missed a shot in an offensive round, Iverson and Rodman jumped up to compete for rebounds, Iverson had a better rebounding position, but Rodman had a height advantage, he pulled the ball out of the bottom line from behind Iverson, and knocked Iverson out of balance, and after falling, his elbow hit Iverson's head, and Iverson's anger was instantly ignited.
Only to catch up with Rodman, first hit Rodman with his chest, then extend his hands to push Rodman into the audience, and then use one hand to pull Rodman's jersey. Rodman didn't fight back, his left hand holding Iverson and his right hand against Iverson's chest to prevent Iverson from hitting him.
Then the two players and two referees of the 76ers pulled them apart and stood between them, making them unable to get close to each other, and the Bulls players also ran in time to stabilize Rodman, in fact, Rodman was very calm in this conflict, after being pulled apart, he and his teammates high-fived and signaled not to worry, and then he and Pippen chatted and walked back to the backcourt, but Iverson needed multiple teammates to pull him and failed to rush to Rodman, he was really angry.
In the face of Iverson, who is much shorter than himself, why does Rodman dare not fight back, why did he instigate it? Some people say that Rodman is afraid of Iverson's gangster background, some people say that Rodman admires Iverson as a junior, but in fact, these are not, when you have these ideas, it means that you do not understand Rodman, it means that you do not understand his wisdom.
Rodman is an alternative in the NBA, he always does something that ordinary people can't understand, but that doesn't mean he has no brains, in fact, he is a very smart player, Phil Jackson once said that Rodman does not need to spend too much time to fully understand the Bulls' triangle offense, and his ball quotient is very high.
He also has his wisdom when he comes into conflict with people. If you have watched Rodman's conflict videos, you can find that many conflicts are caused by Rodman, he will use garbage and many small actions to anger the opponent, and even use very covert means to attack the opponent, so that the opponent's anger is ignited to fight with him, he will raise his hands to let the referee see that he did not move, and while retreating to protect himself, and then wait for the referee and teammates to pull them away.
If the opponent is very angry and does something out of the ordinary, then it is very likely that he will be punished, and if the situation is not serious, he will also receive a technical foul, at this time, Rodman, who has just behaved innocently, will applaud wildly, because his plan has succeeded, and sometimes his clapping action has angered the opponent again, and the conflict has happened again, which means that the opponent has been fooled by him again.
Let's look back at Iverson's conflict with Rodman with this point of view, when Iverson rushed to Rodman, Rodman saw that the referee was not far away, he wanted the referee to see that he did not move, so he put one hand on Iverson's back and put his arm around him, one hand against Iverson to protect himself, when the referee and other players came to pull the frame, he did not have any extra movement, it was easy to be separated.
The clash wasn't serious, Iverson wasn't sent off, Rodman launched a second round of attacks — he slapped Iverson's ass as he passed by, some people interpreted his actions as overtures to Iverson, and I think he provoked Iverson again, Iverson was really angry, pointing at Rodman, at which point the referee ignored their actions, rodman attacked again.
As he passed Iverson talking trash with Iverson in his mouth, Iverson pointed angrily at him again, the referee stopped their actions, and Rodman immediately applauded wildly. Although Iverson still has not been sent off, Rodman has successfully disturbed his mentality, which is very good for his team.
Don't underestimate Rodman, behind his "thorny head" image, there is great wisdom, and if you are not careful, you will fall into his trap.