Rodman Sentenced To Community Service On Child Support Case

Community service for Dennis Rodman.

Rodman Sentenced – It stood to reason that when Dennis Rodman made news again, it would not be for something good. And sure enough, the former NBA star was sentenced Tuesday to 104 hours of community service after being found guilty last year of four counts of contempt for failing to pay child support.

At 51, Rodman, is also placed on three years of informal probation on the condition he keep up his child and spousal support payments.

All of this began in 2004, when Rodman’s wife at the time filed for divorce.

Known as much for his wild appearance with tattoos and body piercings and wild behavior as his prowess on the court, Rodman wore a black button down shirt and jeans to family court. That modest attire did not influence  Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Barry Michaelson.

”My suggestion is to use your talents as a motivator, as a fine, fine athlete and as a fine person to assist others in need,” Michaelson said.

Rodman still faces additional contempt charges and is accused of owing back child support in an amount that attorneys for Michelle Rodman, his ex-wife, say exceeds $800,000.

”It’s all about the kids,” Rodman said of the ex-couple’s two children, after the hearing. ”It does suck the fact that it had to come to this.”

Rodman’s attorney Linnea Willis said the four charges stemmed from a period of time when he was expected to pay $50,000 a month in child support. That amount has since been reduced to $4,500 for child and spousal support. Rodman is now current on those obligations, she said.

Michelle Rodman’s attorney, Jack Kayajanian, said he was pleased with the ruling and an award of $32,500 in attorney’s fees.

Subscribe To The ABS Newsletter — Get our stories in your inbox.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Latest from Atlanta Black Star

Back to top