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The Prodigal Father: Dennis Rodman Meets His Dad After 42 Years!

July 19th, 2012 - By Alissa Henry
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"Dennis Rodman"

Source: GlobalGrind.com

Philander Rodman definitely lived up to his first name. The 71-year-old has 29 children by 16 mothers!

One of those children is former NBA player Dennis Rodman. Yesterday, after an exhibition game in the Philippines, they met for the first time in 42 years!

Associated Press reports:

Philander Rodman Jr., tried to meet the basketball Hall of Famer during another game in Manila in 2006.

“It was great,” he said on Thursday of the first time he held his son’s hands since they last met in December 1969.

“I’ve been trying to meet him for years. And then last night, boom, I met him. I was really, really happy and very surprised,” he told The Associated Press.

The NBA “Alumni” team, which also included Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, and Mitch Richmond, played against former top professional Philippine Basketball Association players in the All-Star Challenge. The Alumni won.

Philander, who has been living in the Philippines for nearly 50 years, said he wanted to explain to his son that he didn’t abandon his family in the United States, but they had only time for greetings and handshakes.

He said he spent only about three minutes with his son, who was also busy signing autographs.

“I really, really felt good,” he said. “It’s the beginning of something new.”

He gave his number to his son who promised to call.

He said his son did not even want to talk about him six years ago, but he was encouraged to try again to meet him after Tuesday’s press conference where the former Pistons and Bulls star invited him to watch Wednesday’s game.

“I don’t hate the guy that brought me into this world,” Dennis Rodman said. “The fact is, if I saw him, I’ll just tell him, ‘You know, you’re a friend of mine.’”

During a break, with seconds left to the end of the game, Dennis Rodman grabbed a microphone and acknowledged his father’s presence and pointed to him in the arena.

The crowd applauded as the elder Rodman stood up wearing a red baseball cap that said “Yes, Dennis Rodman is my son.”

The 71-year-old Vietnam War veteran operates the Rodman’s Rainbow Obamaburger restaurant in northern Angeles City.

He said his restaurant menu includes burgers with red, yellow and green colored buns and fries, colors associated with his flamboyant son.

Can’t imagine what that meeting was like! Super side eye at his dad for profiting off a relationship with a son he barely knew.

Yahoo Sports says that Dennis has talked about his father before in his 1996 memoir ‘Bad As I Want To Be,’:

“I never really knew my father, Philander Rodman. He was in the Air Force in New Jersey, where I was born, and when I was three we packed up and came back to Dallas where my mother is from. We did this when my father stopped coming home.

My father isn’t part of my life. I haven’t seen him in more than thirty years, so what is there to miss? I just look at it like this: Some man brought me into this world. That doesn’t mean I have a father; I don’t. I could say, ‘This is my father. This is my dad,’ but that doesn’t sound right to me. I grew up with my mother and two younger sisters, Debra and Kim. There wasn’t a male role model in my life until I got to college and started getting my [act] together.”

That is the story of too many kids in this country for sure. But it’s great to hear that Dennis finally did get to meet his dad, even if he was indifferent toward the meeting. It would be pretty hard to forge a real relationship at this point (especially when they live on different continents), but maybe this story will encourage other “Philanders” to reach out to their children before its too late.

What do you think about their reunion?

Follow Alissa on Twitter @AlissaInPink

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