Rebound King

Close your eyes and visualize Dennis Rodman. What do you see? A laughing b-baller with leopard-spotted hair, helping lead the Chicago Bulls to victory? A towering vision in wedding-dress drag, drumming up media attention for his book? Or the unexpected winner of the reality-television pot on Celebrity Mole Yucatan? Dennis Rodman has tried his hand at many things and emerged successful from most of them. He's a seven-time NBA rebounding champ who has earned five championship rings, but despite his still-formidable skills, Rodman hasn't played NBA ball since 2000. Although the flamboyant defensive player would make an ideal addition to, let's say, the Miami Heat, he isn't interested if the conditions are less than ideal. "I would play for any team as long as they're successful. But just to go on a team to be in the NBA, that's not my style," Rodman drawls.

At age 44, he enjoys a curious kind of fame, buoyed by his reputation as a colorful, party-hearty personality. He isn't concerned about what anyone thinks about him as a baller. "My life isn't based on being an athlete; my life is based on being an individual who enjoys life to the fullest," he retorts. Rodman has done enough living for three lifetimes. So it almost makes sense that he's written a third autobiography, the appropriately titled I Should Be Dead by Now.

"This book tells people what's been going on with me outside of basketball, the antics I've been up to, the parties and all that crap," mumbles Rodman. Besides chronicling his post-NBA struggles, the book dishes scandalous dirt about ex-wife Carmen Electra and reveals other explicit exploits. "If I really wanted to kiss and tell, I would really kiss and tell. This book just gives, like, a little tease," Rodman quips. When asked if he's at all worried about pissing people off, he just laughs: "Well, bad news is good news."