NBA legend Dennis Rodman issued an Instagram apology to his daughter Trinity Rodman after she spoke about their estranged relationship on a podcast and said they are bonded “maybe by blood but nothing else.”
Trinity Rodman, a 22-year-old American soccer star and Olympic gold medalist, said on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast Wednesday that she and her brother spent years not hearing from their father. She recalled how he failed to support them financially at times — even when they were homeless — and accused him of making a show to support her athletic career only when there are cameras around.
Her father, a five-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer who secured three titles with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s alongside Michael Jordan, said Thursday in an apology posted on Instagram: “Sorry I wasn’t the Dad you wanted me to be but either way I still tried and I still Try and Never will Stop.”
He shared a video of an array of photos of him with his two kids when they were young.
“I will keep Trying even when you’re being told as an adult not to respond to my phone calls. I will try even when it’s difficult and if it takes a long time. I’m always here And tell you all the time rather it’s your voice or voicemail how proud I am,” he continued.
“I always had one wish and it was I wish my kids would call me and come see me. Hopefully one day I can get that. I’m here and I’m still trying pick up the phone you have my number, You see me calling, I’m still here Dennis RODMAN- Dad,” he wrote.
He added that he watches his daughter play soccer even when she doesn't know it.
“FYI: I watch you play All the time😊 (actually flew in to watch you play and was told not to show up bc who I was with instead and me just wanting to support you So I watched you from my hotel balcony just to make everybody happy. I love All My Kids,” he said.
Trinity Rodman and her older brother, DJ, are Dennis Rodman’s children from his relationship with Michelle Moyer. They separated when Trinity Rodman was still a toddler in a drawn-out divorce that lasted from 2004 to 2012.
Trinity Rodman, who became the youngest player drafted into the National Women’s Soccer League when she was 18, is a star for the Washington Spirit and helped the United States bring home gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
During the podcast, she spoke about how her father showed up to the NWSL quarterfinal match in 2021, sending her into tears. They had a catch-up after the game, but she didn’t see or hear from him again until sometime in the last year.
“I think after that was when I lost hope in ever getting him back. It was just going to be, like, he’s popping in whenever he wants to be in a camera,” she said. “And even at that game, I don’t think that was for me. I think he wanted to have a good conscience and then be like, headline, Dennis Rodman showed up to his daughter’s game.”
During the conversation, she acknowledged that alcohol has been an issue for her father. Dennis Rodman was known in his career for his antics on and off the court and hard-partying lifestyle.
“I think with how successful he was and how rich he was, he was surrounded by a lot of toxic people who would take his money and take advantage of him,” she said. “Because he was in alcohol, he was brainwashed and didn’t really have any control over anything.”
“I do believe that he wishes that he could fight his demons. I roll my eyes because it’s like you hear something so many times, but he does nothing to change it. ‘I wish I was a better dad,’ he said that in so many interviews. I could pull them up. And it’s like, OK, yeah, then do something,” she said.