5. Adrian Dantley, Detroit Pistons
We’re starting off the list with a former teammate that many would look past since Rodman played with him early in his career with the Pistons. For the final spot on the list, we had to go with 6-foot-5 and 210 pound Hall-of-Fame small forward and former Notre Dame Fighting Irish product Adrian Dantley.
The other consideration here went to fellow former Piston and combo guard Joe Dumars.
Dantley played in around 15 years in the NBA, most of which actually came with the Utah Jazz. He spent seven seasons with the Jazz. The second most years he spent with any one NBA team was the Pistons. Dantley played with the Pistons at the very outset of Rodman’s career, in the mid-to-late 1980’s.
During his lengthy NBA career, Dantley would be a six-time All-Star selection, two-time All-NBA honoree, two-time scoring champ, and 1976-77 Rookie of the Year award winner. Dantley would never quite see the Pistons through to an NBA Championship during his run in the Motor City. But he did see them get to one NBA Finals.
In his best season with the Pistons, Dantley played in 81 regular season games in 1986-87. He averaged 21.5 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 0.8 steals, while shooting 53.4 percent from the field during the 1986-87 regular season. The scoring prowess of Dantley was a good fit to help develop part of Rodman’s offensive game.