Jackson Tires of Game of ‘Where’s Weirdo?’

Can’t find Dennis Rodman on the bench? Here’s an easy solution being mulled by Chicago Bull Coach Phil Jackson: putting the late-arriving rebounder on the floor to start the game.

“I gave a lot of thought to it for Tuesday night’s game and didn’t,” Jackson said Thursday. “I’m considering the fact of the road, the intensity, the foul situation, the quickness. He has to come off the bench and get involved. We want to get our best defensive foot forward.”

The Bulls take a 2-0 lead into Saturday’s Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals in Indianapolis.

And Rodman, well behaved--by his standards--most of the season, has been acting like The Worm of old.

He missed a practice last week when he came late after a lengthy birthday celebration and then didn’t show up at either of the first two games until about an hour before tipoff--30 minutes late.

He didn’t start either of those games against the Pacers, although Jackson said bringing Rodman off the bench was not punitive but a strategy to counteract Indiana’s Antonio Davis.

Out of the lineup, Rodman returned to the locker room to stay loose and work out. But when substitution patterns changed earlier than expected and Jackson looked down the bench to send Rodman into the game, the seven-time rebounding champion with multicolored hair and various tattoos wasn’t there.

The scene was replayed to start the second half.

Both times an irritated Jackson quickly dispatched an assistant trainer to fetch Rodman so he could go into the game. After Game 2, Michael Jordan criticized Rodman, saying he was trying to (gasp!) draw attention to himself.

Ron Harper had a different message Thursday: Leave Rodman alone.

“Dennis is fine,” Harper said, “he don’t have no problem with anybody. He was late to a game. He’s late to every game. Who cares?”

Said Jackson: “He doesn’t like his money. We take it from him and find ways to give it back to him.”

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Indiana Coach Larry Bird has found it difficult to hide his unhappiness over officiating in the series.

“Chicago has won a lot of championships, and they’ve earned the right to get some calls. We just have to play through it,” said Bird, who often benefited from officiating in his 13 years with the Boston Celtics.

“There’s no question that superstars get the benefit of the doubt most of the time. When you’ve got two of them on your team, everything seems to go their way.”

Chicago has had 16 more free throws than Indiana (73-57), and the Bulls have outscored Indiana by 14 points from the line. Jordan is 24 of 28 from the line and Scottie Pippen nine of 13.