RODMAN IS FITTING IN\NBA renegade is a Bulls fan favorite.

Byline: Terry Armour Chicago Tribune 

As the kids eagerly filed into the Berto Center after the Bulls practiced Tuesday, their eyes darted around searching for their favorite players.

They would have been content to meet Michael Jordan, or to have Scottie Pippen scrawl his signature on something. But the kids were looking for one player in particular.

"Where's Dennis Rodman?" they kept asking.

It has been three months since Bulls general manager Jerry Krause shocked everyone by announcing that the team had traded Will Perdue to the San Antonio Spurs for the enigmatic "Bad Boy" of basketball.

No way was this supposed to work out. It was only a matter of time before Rodman would be a distraction to the team.

Instead, it's been the opposite. The Bulls (28-3) are off to the best start in franchise history, and the entire city has latched onto Rodman.

Fans cheer loudly every time he grabs a rebound. They egg him on to shoot more. They whoop and holler when he dives for a loose ball. They even yell words of encouragement while he's sitting on the bench.

This may still be Michael Jordan's town. But Rodman has ended up somewhere in the same zip code.

"Dennis is a blue-collar type of guy," Krause said. "The real Chicago Bulls fan, a guy who grew up with Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier and Tom Boerwinkle, appreciates that. Those guys played so hard, and Dennis is the epitome of someone who works hard. Dennis gets the fans going. Michael brings a level of skill to the game that fans appreciate, but Dennis is more of an old Bull."

Rodman obviously is enjoying his time here. He said he's having the most fun he's had since leaving the Detroit Pistons in 1993 for San Antonio, where he spent a stormy two seasons.

"It's still too cold here," Rodman said. "Other than that, I like it here. It really has been great. I've been having fun. Doesn't it show?"

Perhaps that's why there haven't been any distractions. Rodman admitted he had more fun "off the court than on the court" in San Antonio. But the key to the whole experiment's working out was how Rodman would fit in with his new teammates, most notably Jordan and Pippen, who were contacted before the team made the trade.

At the time, Jordan and Pippen, who both had numerous run-ins with Rodman when he was one of the Pistons' enforcers, were leery of the move but said that as long as things worked out on the court, they'd be happy.

Many of the players were slow to warm up to Rodman, and there still isn't much interaction. Before home games, Rodman can be found in the weight room at the United Center, headphones on, riding an exercise bike to loosen up. Rodman doesn't talk to anybody. On the road, Rodman sits in the locker room, headphones on, watching game tape. He doesn't talk to anybody.

"I really don't talk too much," Rodman said. "I let my actions do my talking. I'm just doing what I have to do to win. Everybody on this team has their own space, and we just deal with it from there."

Jordan sometimes jokes with Rodman before games, but Pippen and Rodman still don't talk much. Still, Pippen has been impressed with Rodman's play, which has helped open up the court for Pippen to operate.

Rodman, who missed 12 games with a calf injury, has led the team in rebounding in 18 of the 19 games he has played. Rodman is averaging 14 rebounds per game.

"He's fit in well because he works hard," Pippen said. "He really understands the game. Whenever there's a rebound, I just try to stay out of his way."

Jordan admitted he was worried about how Rodman would fit in-wild-colored hair, tattoos and all. Rodman's off-the-court antics also posed a worry to the team.

But in the three months Rodman has been with the Bulls, he has gained Jordan's respect.

"He's got a strong dedication to the game," Jordan said. "He works hard at winning. Away from the basketball court I didn't know what to expect. Dennis has got his own ways of marketing himself and his own ideas about certain things. For me to question that is not my place. I think he lives his life the way he wants to live it."

And Jordan thinks he knows why Rodman does some of the things he does - like running around the court waving his fist in the air after a basket, or teasing the United Center crowd into thinking he's going to take a three-pointer, or simply saying something outlandish.

"I figure he's a shy person and that's the way he expresses himself," Jordan said. "A lot of times people that way are introverts who express themselves in different ways. I felt that we could accept that as long as he could stand on the court and understand the system and understand the dedication we have as a team and not divert from that. I don't think he has.

He's been on time and really hasn't been a distraction. He gets his attention, and that really is a part of him and a part of his life. As long as he doesn't take away from the success of this team, we don't have a problem with that."

The Bulls' front office was worried about that too. That's why Krause, coach Phil Jackson and scouts Jim Stack and Clarence Gaines Jr. spent several days checking up on Rodman before making the trade. They also talked with Rodman several times. All parties involved were convinced he'd fit in.

"We were able to learn a lot about Dennis," Krause said. "I talked to players who played with him who didn't like him, and I talked to players who played with him who did like him. I talked to people in management who liked him and talked to people in management who didn't like him."

The Bulls ultimately came to the conclusion that it would work.

"We went into this thing with our eyes wide open," Krause said. "We had enough time to do it the proper way. I feel good about it in the sense that Dennis has been all we wanted him to be. We told him what this team was like and all about the personalities. He's a bright person. He figured out, right away, what the situation was.

So far, it's proven to be a fine relationship."

Rodman hasn't complained much, except about his playing time. He hates it when Jackson pulls him out of games, even in blowouts. Rodman always has his eyes set on grabbing 20 rebounds, which he has done in four games. But Jackson is trying to save Rodman's legs for the second half of the season, when the games get more competitive.

Rodman, who turns 35 in May, hinted that he would like to stick around Chicago after this season. But he's not worrying about it.

"I don't get my hopes up too high about anything," Rodman said. "But as long as I can please the people I'm working for, my teammates and the people who come to the games, that's good enough for me."

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