Worm Lets Emotions Surface, Admits He Aches Over Benching

Dennis Rodman described himself Thursday as hurt over playing so little in the Spurs’ Game 2 loss to Houston and as someone who has trouble trusting others, including Spurs coach Bob Hill.

After an emotional 2-hour team meeting Thursday, Rodman at first sounded as though he wasn’t bothered by San Antonio’s 106-96 loss Wednesday night in the Western Conference finals.

“Life is not all about basketball,” he said. “If you lose, you lose.”

But the tattooed man who wears pierced nose and ear rings and continually dyes his hair resplendent colors clearly was upset about his lack of playing time and the Rockets taking a 2-0 series lead. Rodman, the league’s leading rebounder, played only 17 minutes - just 3 in the second half - Wednesday.

“Everybody’s wondering what the hell happened,” he said. “It just puzzled me.”

Rodman said he hasn’t been told whether he’ll play much tonight.

Hill initially said Wednesday night he was forced to go with a smaller lineup most of the second half to match up with the Rockets and to generate offense.

On Thursday, without mentioning names, he said the players he usually relies on weren’t showing enthusiasm.

“The guys whose reputations on this team are that they are warriors, there were no warriors out there last night,” Hill said.

Rodman doesn’t like watching from the sidelines. “It hurts me because I know what it takes to win a basketball game, especially in this (playoff) atmosphere because I love to be in this atmosphere.”

Rodman said he truly cares about his teammates, but is misunderstood.