Trinity Rodman shares emotional, rare moment with Dennis Rodman

Trinity Rodman, rookie 19-year-old forward on the NWSL’s Washington Spirit and daughter of Dennis Rodman, was surprised by her father at the team’s playoff game against the North Carolina Courage on Sunday.

Trinity Rodman was the second overall pick in the NWSL draft this past February, and the youngest player ever drafted in the league. She wrote on Instagram that her father, the enigmatic NBA legend, “doesn’t play the biggest role in my life at all” and she was “shocked, overwhelmed, happy, sad, everything” to see him at her game.

“This last game was an extremely emotional one,” Trinity Rodman said. “Yes Dennis rodman showed up to an Nwsl game, but also my dad, after YEARS surprised me at a big game in my career, I was shocked, overwhelmed, happy, sad, everything. My dad doesn’t play a big role in my life at all and most people don’t know that, we don’t see eye to eye on many things. I go months if not years without his presence or communication.

“Being in spotlights has been hard for us, him and me. We don’t have the best relationship, but at the end of the day he’s human I’m human… he’s my dad, and I’m his little girl that will never change. I will improve and look forward everyday as I hope he does.”

In an interview with The Guardian this past April, Trinity Rodman made sure to give credit to her mother.

“Having a dad like I do, no one asks about my mom because she’s obviously not an NBA star, but I just want people to know that my mom’s been my support system in everything in life and she’s my best friend and my rock,” she said. “I don’t think people know how close we are and, even though she wasn’t in the NBA, she has an extremely competitive and driven mindset, and she’s an extremely strong woman. She’s my role model.”

Dennis Rodman was one of the greatest rebounders of all-time and a tenacious defender. Due to these immense talents, teams tolerated some wildly outlandish behavior, like the time he was suspended for kicking a cameraman in the crotch or the stretch of the regular season during the Bulls’ “Last Dance” year where he decided to go on a jaunt out to Las Vegas with Carmen Electra.

Rodman has previously spoken about how his father was not involved in his own life

In an interview with ESPN in 2019, Dennis Rodman spoke emotionally about wanting to be a better father.

“The only demon I have right now is trying to convince myself that I’m a good dad,” he said. “It’s hard for me to break out of that cycle. I just think it’s one of those things where I never had anyone to do that for me, and I think sometimes why I am I doing it for someone else. And knowing the fact that that’s my child, that’s my wife, or that’s my mother, or that’s my sister, it’s hard to gravitate to people that’s close to me. It’s difficult, even though inside I love them. It hurts me when my kids say ‘Okay you can hug us, you can touch us.’

“It’s hard because it just burns me up and hurts me so much, and I have to go home and try to reevaluate, and tell my soul you can do this.”

This season, Trinity Rodman had six goals and six assists. The Washington Spirit play the OL Reign in the NWSL semifinals this coming Sunday.