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8th July 2023
10:58am BST
Dennis Rodman has spent his lifetime shocking people, with his antics on and off the court, the wrestling ring and the bedroom, but his latest form of self-expression might be his most divisive yet.
The former bad boy of the NBA got a tattoo of his girlfriend's face, on his face, Thursday.
Rodman - who legacy of lunacy has led to lists being compiled on his most outrageous behaviour (he'd broken his penis three times, for instance) - sought out tattoo artist, Van Johnson, star of reality series Black Ink Crew Chicago, to ink the forever tribute to his beloved.
Johnson posted a video of his black and grey portrait on Instagram, and joked in the caption: "So I ain’t do too much today, cooled out at my townhome tattooed a living legend's face of his woman on his face, that’s about it…. What y’all do?"
In the clip, 62-year-old Rodman, known as arguably the best rebounding forward in NBA history, shows off the artwork on his right cheek, as his girlfriend squeals with delight.
Not everyone was enamoured with it, though.
Writing in the comments, with one person told Johnson he should have "tried to talk him outta that my G." Another added simply that the tattoo "looks like s***".
A third had a rather predictable, premonition: "I can see the cover-up coming. Never tattoo someone's name or picture to your body!"
Johnson admitted the tattoo was "pretty random" but said Rodman, sat like a "champ" through the needle work, probably not surprising given he's had his are nostrils, labret, earlobes and nipples pierced.
Anyone in doubt about the authenticity of the work, should be reassured, yes, Rodman really did it.
Johnson told TMZ Sports that it was "really real" and took just over an hour to complete.
"He was a champ, he sat through it," Johnson said.
"Pretty random, but he love the hell out that girl."
The tribute comes after Rodman hit back at trolls who criticised him for wearing a skirt to a Pride event in Houston last month.
Rodman, who is known for his rule-breaking, gender-fluid style and for being a LGBTQ+ ally, wore a tiny green plaid skirt and a shirt with a graphic print of his face in rainbow colours.
The star - who once wore a wedding dress to marry himself in 1996 - happily posed for photos with admirers - but faced a torrent of abuse afterwards.
Clapping back at the backlash, Rodman urged people to do their "research" on him, sharing various pictures of his unconventional fits over the years.
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