Rodman's former girlfriend recalled the moment when Jordan had to come drag Rodman out of bed.
Dennis Rodman's famous antics and larger-than-life personality took center stage in ESPN's documentary series The Last Dance this week, and fans got some insight into a time when the notorious NBA star went AWOL while playing with the Chicago Bulls.
On Sunday's new episodes of The Last Dance -- which follows the 1997–98 Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan's final season with the team -- recounted Jordan's sometime tumultuous relationship with Rodman.
Rodman became a key player for the Bulls after Scottie Pippen suffered an injury and had to sit out during the early part of the season. However, after Pippen's return, Rodman apparently felt displaced.
"Rodman's descent became dramatic," explained Chicago Tribune sportswriter Sam Smith. "You know, his drinking, his partying, his loosing connection with reality."
As Jordan recounted, Rodman approached Bulls coach Phil Jackson, and said he needed a vacation and wanted to go to Las Vegas.
"If you let this dude go to vacation, we're not gonna see him," Jordan recalls telling Jackson at the time. "You let him go to Vegas, we definitely not gonna see him."
However, Jackson chose to agree on the condition that Rodman only take two days and come home immediately.
"He leaves that room, goes straight to the airport. Boom, we don't hear or see Dennis for 48 hours," Jordan reflected.
According to Rodman's then-girlfriend, Carmen Electra, their trip to Las Vegas was absolutely wild.
"I do remember being in Vegas with him. It was on. The party was starting right away," Electra reflected. "One thing about Dennis -- he had to escape. He liked to go out. He liked to go to clubs. We'd go to his favorite restaurant. Then we'd go to a nightclub. Then we'd go to after hours. It didn't stop."
"It was definitely an occupational hazard to be Dennis' girlfriend," she added with a laugh. "He was wild."
Carmen explained that she had no idea Rodman had taken "a detour" from returning to the Bulls, and she found out in a big way when Jordan came banging on the door of his Chicago apartment after he returned home from Sin City.
"He didn't come back on time," Jordan explained. "So we had to go get his ass out of bed."
"There's a knock on the door, and it's Michael Jordan," Electra shared, remembering her embarrassment at the time. "And I hid. I didn't want him to see me like that."
"So I'm just, like, hiding behind the couch with covers over me, [And Jordan goes], "Come on! We got to get to practice."
Last Dance director Jason Hehir clarified for fans this week that Jordan did in fact go to Rodman's apartment and did not travel to Las Vegas to confront him.
"He got him out of his apartment," Hehir said during the Jalen & Jacoby Aftershow on ESPN. "He lived across the street from the United Center. He got back. His vacation—part of it happened in Vegas of course. He got back and still felt that he was going to do a staycation for a little bit in Chicago so that's when Michael said, 'Alright, I'm going to walk across the street.' It was literally across the street. So he went with the athletic trainer. They banged on his door. (Laughs) Michael, I think he said off-camera, he garbed him by his nose ring and took him out. But yeah, that actually happened. I wish that we were better at identifying to people that Michael didn't get on a plane and go to Vegas to get him but he did grab him out of bed."
Afterwards Rodman temporarily found himself at odds with Jordan and his teammates. However, it wasn't long before he proved himself during training sessions and everyone had to admit that he hadn't missed a step after returning home after days of debauchery.
"Michael and Scottie accepted me for who I am and said, 'You know what? He does what he does, but he cares a lot,'" Rodman shared. "I'll go party hard, but I'll work hard. I think that we got along so well because we want to win. We want to win a championship."
"It was, like, in his psyche. He needed to get away," Jordan explained. "But in all honesty, Dennis was always there. He was always on point."
The Last Dance airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ESPN.
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