Dennis Rodman's popularity was so huge at one point that plenty of people believed he was more famous than Michael Jordan himself. Imagine how influential you had to be to become a bigger figure than the GOAT during his best years.
Well, Rodman has claimed that in the past, and plenty of people agree with him. The greatest rebounder of all time was controversial on and off the court, showing no fear when playing basketball and letting himself go when it was time to party.
He was so famous that became the cover of a 1997 edition of GQ magazine. This wasn't a regular cover, and Rodman was involved in yet another controversy during that time.
The then Chicago Bulls player appears on the cover standing behind nearly naked supermodel Rebecca Romijn. In the most controversial edition of the magazine, Dennis seemed to be grabbing Romijn's breast, which caused a lot of issues for the company. The phrase of the cover was also curious, to say the least.
"Tries to get a grip on life, fame and career, but not on Rebecca Romijn," it read.
After receiving criticism from that cover, GQ decided to make a different one, but kept the first original. a In fact, they left the controversial cover for subscribers only.
Via Paul Farhi of The Washington Post:
The too-hot-for-newsstands edition of GQ is actually a parody of sorts of another controversial cover, Rolling Stone's 1993 shot of singer Janet Jackson. In that cover, Jackson's bare breasts are covered by her boyfriend's disembodied hands.
In the GQ version, Rodman only appears to be holding Romijn's breasts, on which a man's fingers have been painted. The basketball star's hands are actually raised in a no-harm, no-foul gesture, a physical pun that plays off the cover line "Dennis Rodman tries to get a grip on life, fame and career, but not on Rebecca Romijn." CAPTION: Warned that retailers are cracking down on excess skin at the checkout line, GQ produced one cover, left, for public display, and one for subscribers only.
Whatever Dennis Rodman touched during the 90s became viral. Even without social media, the 5x NBA champion knew how to get a lot of attention. His actions were always controversial and Dennis seemed to enjoy that.
It'd be curious to see how the public would react to a similar publication nowadays, but that really stirred the pot in 1997. Rodman hasn't stopped showing his colorful personality and recently revealed 10 things he can't live without. As you can expect, they are extremely curious, too.
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