By now, Dennis Rodman knows he's expected to skip out to Las Vegas during the NBA Finals in Utah. He did just that on a Wednesday night that stretched into yesterday morning.
Rodman was scoreless with 10 rebounds off the bench in Chicago's 88-85 loss in Game 1. As has become his custom, Rodman wasn't on the Chicago sideline when Bulls coach Phil Jackson wanted to put him in the game in the first quarter.
He stayed in the locker room, riding a bike to keep loose. Rodman started the second quarter and ended up playing 40 minutes.
Soon after the game ended, Rodman was on a plane for Vegas. Rumor had it that he didn't arrive back in Salt Lake City until 5 a.m.
The Las Vegas Sun reported that Rodman made the rounds of three casinos. According to the paper, Rodman at one point accumulated more than $20,000 in chips at a Las Vegas Hilton craps table.
``We worked out an agreement that as long as practice isn't missed and as long as he is able to have a little space and time to recover, this is going to be OK,'' Jackson said. ``This is not going to be something that is negative.''
When Rodman arrived at practice with the Bulls yesterday, he got angry when one of the media mob stepped on his shoe. He then refused to talk to reporters.
BIG SMOOTH MOVING UP: Among the many story lines in this series is the fact that John Stockton and Karl Malone have rocketed to the top of the list of those who have played the most playoff games without winning the NBA title.
Stockton leads the list with 141 games. The Lakers' Elgin Baylor is next with 134, Malone is third with 131. New York's Charles Oakley is fourth at 129 and Sonic forward Sam Perkins is fifth with 129, nine ahead of Charles Barkley. Retiring Sonic captain Nate McMillan's 98 is tied for 14th with ex-teammate Derrick McKey.
YET ANOTHER JORDAN CHALLENGE: After Wednesday's victory, Salt Lake Tribune columnist Gordon Monson wrote that the series was over, based mostly on the historical fact that the team winning Game 1 has won the Finals 80 percent of the time.
Michael Jordan claimed he didn't read the column, but was quick to offer refutation.
``He's only a columnist,'' Jordan said. ``He doesn't put on basketball shoes. I've yet to see him guard me and Scottie (Pippen). Whatever he says is strictly speculation, stictly on his heart, and not what he knows about the game.''
