OPINION: The Olympic gold-medalist and champion soccer player opened up about her relationship with her superstar father, Dennis Rodman, and it was tough.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
If you live in Washington, D.C., and pay attention to the local sports scene then you are familiar with Trinity Rodman (Trinity). She’s the star forward for the Washington Spirit, the soccer club representing the District of Columbia in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). She was the Rookie of the Year in 2021, the same year she helped the club win their first ever league championship. In 2024, she helped the United States Women’s National Team secure the gold medal in the 2024 Olympics held in Paris.
Trinity is also the daughter of NBA Hall of Famer and five-time champion, Dennis Rodman (Rodman), whose career was as known for his brilliance on the court as his actions off the court. Trinity is one of Rodman’s three kids and in a recent interview on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast, opened up about her relationship with her famous father, and it was a doozy. More importantly, it reminded me of my goal to never have a single one of my children ever feel about me or have cause to speak of me in the way that Trinity has about her famous father.
To know of Dennis Rodman is to know of his many struggles. Having grown up in the 80s and 90s when his basketball dominance and brilliance was still center stage, I learned through features stories and news reports of his troubled upbringing with his family, something that Trinity alludes to when speaking about their own troubled relationship. Rodman’s relationship with his father was seemingly non-existent; in 2012, Rodman saw his father for the first time in 42 years. Add that to other issues he’s mentioned about his own childhood (there have been movies about his life) and Rodman truly beat the odds to become a rich and famous NBA star. With that said, unaddressed demons manifest themselves in relationships with those closest to you and that’s the vantage point that Trinity’s pain and hurt stems from.
In this interview (the whole interview is currently available on Spotify), she speaks pretty candidly about her upbringing and how absent Rodman was for most of it and how it impacted her. She speaks at length about how she and her brother struggled through school financially, with a mother who did her best to provide them a safe and happy life. The family was briefly homeless at one point, living jointly out of an old Ford Expedition and a motel, which is insane to think about considering who her father is. Granted, Rodman’s NBA days were done by the time she was born in 2002, but the children of a former NBA superstar being homeless for any period of time boggles the mind. Famous athletes going broke isn’t exactly uncommon, but still.
As she grew up, their relationship struggled to the point where as an adult, years have elapsed between their time together. She points out how frustrated she was when he did show up, for example at her quarterfinal match in 2021’s NWSL playoffs, and how it emotionally impacted her just by showing up — they didn’t speak or see one another for another three years after that. Those around her, though, knew of their relationship (or lack thereof) and how something the media pointed to as “Dennis Rodman supporting his daughter” could be seen as a triggering event for a little girl whose father just wasn’t there.
The whole interview is worth the watch, honestly, as even in her anger, she speaks very generously and protectively of her father in parts. She clearly loves him and wants a better relationship with him, though calling him “dad” is hard for her. As a parent of four kids, I don’t fear this scenario as I truly cannot imagine a version of my life that would allow my kids to feel the same way about me, but the interview is a reminder of what bad parenting can do to children. Or how hard it must be being the child of a famous athlete parent that was a style icon and a person who was revered for their bad boy persona. Trinity gets to see other people show their love for him all the while wanting him to just be part of her life.
I love being a father and while I know I’m not perfect, I can’t even imagine life without my children being present. Sure, it’s a lot of work, but I like them as humans and I like having them around. Even if I can’t give them everything I’d like, I know that it’s more important they know I’m here no matter what. I love that they get to see me be a constant and active presence. My kids don’t have to miss me. God willing, they won’t have to until the good Lord calls me home.
After the interview went live, Dennis Rodman posted an apology to Trinity on his Instagram saying (in a nutshell) that he will never stop trying to be her father while also pointing out the relationship works both ways, a common tactic on the part of parents who aren’t as present as they could be. As a father, it feels to me like unless my child has made it clear they want no parts of me (which Trinity absolutely has not done), the effort should be on the parents to do all they can to make amends for things done wrong.
I hope Trinity speaking publicly and openly gives her some peace but more importantly, I hope that a little girl gets the love she wants and needs from her parent, her father. What I heard in the interview was a daughter who loves a father who hasn’t been easy to love and is asking for him to try. An ask that I hope is never a reality for all the Dads out there who have kids that need their love.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).
More must-reads:
