I think this is exactly what Mark Zuckerberg had in mind in his Harvard dorm room. Use of Facebook for the greater good.
A fan of The Worm — not the one at the bottom of a Mescal bottle but Dennis Rodman — has started a a Facebook page to urge inclusion of Rodman in the Hall of Fame. (Hall of Fame bylaws preclude Rodman from campaigning, he has nothing to do with this site.) Go there and like it, read what is on the wall — see all the kind words written about The Worm.
Rodman is one of the finalists to be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this year, but he is considered a long shot by most.
Which is a shame. Forget the hair and the off-the-court antics — Dennis Rodman was the best rebounder the game has ever seen. Rodman grabbed 23.4 percent of the available rebounds when he was on the floor over the course of his career. Think about that, he got nearly 1 in 4 rebounds when he was on the court for his entire career. For comparison, Dwight Howard’s career average is 20.7 percent. Rodman has a better rebound rate than Moses Malone, Dikembe Mutombo, Tim Duncan and anyone else you want to name. The only guy in the NBA having a better rebounding single season this year than Rodman did for his career is Kevin Love, and not by much.
Throw in that he was a fantastic defender and you see why he has five rings — he was among the best ever at doing the dirty work. He was seven-times on the all NBA defensive team. He got boards. He dove into the first row after a loose ball on a Tuesday night in Milwaukee not just in the finals. He intimidated. He won.
That is the kind of player who should be in the Hall, the kind of player that should be recognized. He will not be for reasons that have nothing to do with basketball. Because he once said he wanted to play a game in the nude and was a character off the court. Who cares?
Well, the voters will. And they likely only know about Facebook because their grandchildren are on it all the time. But I say we should support Rodman’s campaign even if it is a futile effort. Because sometimes futile efforts are the most worthy.