Dennis Rodman Battles Bill Laimbeer in First Return to Detroit ( Rodman Ejected)

November 19, 1993 After seven years of teaming up for multiple championships, a pile of allstar appearances, and countless WWEstyle defensive efforts, Dennis Rodman and Bill Laimbeer found themselves on opposite sides for the first and only time of their respective NBA careers. The fireworks kicked off less than a minute into the game, with the newly blonde Dennis Rodman drawing a technical foul following the first basket of the night. Laimbeer and Rodman would continue to grapple throughout the evening, culminating in Rodman s ejection with less than three minutes remaining in a 9586 Spurs loss. Laimbeer was facing his own bit of controversy at the time. Just three days prior, teammate Isiah Thomas had broken his hand punching Laimbeer in practice. This event came just weeks after Thomas had also broken a rib while absorbing a Laimbeer elbow. Despite a productive stretch of basketball immediately following the fracas (a threegame period in which he averaged 20. 3 points and 6