When the Bulls won their first three championships, they had an outstanding power forward in Horace Grant to rebound, defend and do a lot of the dirty work. They didn’t have that when Michael Jordan returned from retirement in 1995, so acquiring one was important in order for more championships runs.
Enter Dennis Rodman.
The Bulls traded Will Perdue for Rodman prior to the 1995-96 season. Rodman made a name for himself as a nasty defender with the Bad Boys Pistons, and he won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards in Detroit. He blossomed into the league’s best rebounder at the tail end of his Pistons tenure.
While Rodman was on the downside of his career when he joined the Bulls, he was still an impact player. He made the All-Defensive first team in 1996 and led the league in rebounding in all three of his Bulls seasons, with his 15.3 rebounds per game as a Bull the best mark in franchise history by a lot. His rugged defense in the post was invaluable, and he developed a rivalry against Karl Malone:
Rodman was renowned for his antics on and off the court, and while they weren’t always positive, the Bulls needed his production and edge to get back to the top of the mountain.