The Worm will finally make in to the Basketball Hall of Fame. The colorful personality (both literally and figuratively) may be best known for his hair and his off the court antics but there is no denying the fact that he was one hell of a basketball player. He is pound-for-pound the best rebounder the NBA has ever seen.

Dennis Rodman still holds the NBA’s record for average career rebounds with 13.1 although Dwight Howard is slowly catching up to him. However, the main difference between the two is that Howard is at least five inches taller and is more athletic than Rodman. This fact just shows that Rodman is an extraordinary player in every sense of the word. He showed that height does not automatically mean you will get most of the rebounds. Similar to Charles Barkley, a certain drive to get the rebound was what fueled Rodman. He just wanted the ball a little more than everyone else did.

From the Detroit Pistons, to the San Antonio Spurs, to the Chicago Bulls, Rodman brought it all the time. He may be a coach’s nightmare sometimes but there’s no doubt that all basketball players would want a guy like Rodman in their team because he does not stop fighting for the ball. His best rebounding year was back in the 91-92 season where he grabbed an insane 18.7 rebounds per game.

Rodman is a lot of things. He is a two-time All-NBA Third Team, two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, two-time NBA All-Star, seven-time Defensive Player of the Year, seven-time Rebounding Champion, and most of all a five-time NBA Champion. Detractors will say that Rodman was merely in the right place at the right time which resulted to five NBA rings but the truth is that he was a vital cog in all of these teams and, safe to say, all of these championships had a vintage Rodman moment or two included.

The other player to be inducted on Saturday will be former NBA star and 1992 Dream Team member Chris Mullin, ABA/NBA legend Artis Gilmore, four-time NCAA women’s coach of the year Tara VanDerveer, four-time Olympic gold medalist Teresa Edwards;,European star Arvydas Sabonis; all-time NCAA wins leader Herb Magee, eight-time NBA champion Tom “Satch” Sanders, coaching legend Tex Winter, and former Harlem Globetrotter Reece “Goose” Tatum, who will be honored posthumously.

Catch the Worm at the Hall as BTV airs the 2011 Basketball Hall of Fame Ceremonies on August 13, Saturday, at 8 am. The ceremonies will be aired again at 8 pm on the same day.