United States forward Rodman’s Trinity claims that her relationship with her father, Dennis Rodman, remains strained and that he is still largely absent from her life.
“He’s not a dad. Maybe the blood, but nothing more,” Trinity Rodman told host Alex Cooper on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
Trinity Rodman’s statement is echoed in the podcast comments said Charlotte Gibson of ESPN in June 2022
Rodman said that while she was growing up, her mother tried to protect her two children from the former NBA star’s chaotic lifestyle. Rodman’s mother, Michelle Moyer, divorced Dennis Rodman in 2012.
Trinity Rodman, who won a gold medal with the United States at the Paris Olympics this summer, has a brother, DJ Rodman, who plays in the NBA’s G League.
Dennis Rodman he replied to his daughter on Instagramapologizing that he “wasn’t the dad you wanted me to be” and saying he had tried to be a father and would continue to try.
“I will try even if it is difficult and takes a long time. I’m always here And I tell you all the time rather through your voice or voicemail how proud I am. I always had one wish and that was for my children to call and come to me, I hope one day I will achieve it,” he wrote in the post.
Trinity Rodman, who also plays for the Washington Spirit in the National Women’s Soccer League, recalled how her father showed up unannounced at a 2021 Spirit playoff game.
She hadn’t spoken to her father in months and was emotional during the game, then was photographed crying in his arms.
“The whistle blew and I was so angry I thought, ‘You took away this happy moment from me. You’ve been fucking with my head again,’” she said on the podcast.
“I think after that I lost hope of ever getting him back. It felt like he showed up whenever he was going to be on camera,” Trinity Rodman said. “Even in this match, I don’t think it was for me. “I think he wanted to have a clear conscience and then say, ‘Headline, Dennis Rodman showed up at his daughter’s game.'”
That same year, Trinity Rodman won the title with Spirit and was named NWSL Rookie of the Year. She said that after that match, she only spoke to her father again after the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Trinity Rodman and the Spirit lost to the Orlando Pride in the 2024 NWSL Championship Game.
Dennis Rodman won five NBA championships during his 14-year career. In 2011, he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
This story uses information from Charlotte Gibson of ESPN and the Associated Press.
