Trinity Rodman on why she no longer buys Dennis Rodman's fatherhood regrets: "I roll my eyes"
- Trinity Rodman, the world’s highest-paid women’s soccer player, expresses frustration over her father Dennis Rodman’s repeated admissions of regret for not being a better father.
Back in April 2025, Alex Cooper, host of the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, sat down with Trinity Rodman. At one point, the conversation turned to Dennis Rodman's 2011 Hall of Fame acceptance speech.
Cooper pointed to the moment when Rodman admitted he regretted not being a better father. Trinity's reaction — an eye roll, a quick look away — said plenty on its own. Still, she went on to explain why that comment from her father continues to bother her.
The regret Rodman keeps repeating
Trinity is now the world's highest-paid women's soccer player, having signed a $2 million-per-year extension with the Washington Spirit earlier this year. She's had real success. Add in that she didn't always have steady support from her father.
Dennis himself won five NBA titles. He was arguably the most relentless rebounder of his era. But at his Hall of Fame enshrinement, that didn't seem to matter much. He got emotional at the podium. Fighting back tears, Rodman told the crowd he regretted letting his family down. He admitted he hadn't been a great father to his children. Trinity was nine then. She was in the stands when he said it.
You could see that moment as a turning point. Owning it and apologizing? That's where change is supposed to start. But as Trinity explained on the podcast, that's where it stops.
"Do I believe him? Yeah, I do believe that he wishes he could fight his demons," she said . "I roll my eyes because it's like hearing something so many times, but he does nothing to change it."
Toxic people, alcohol and a distant dad
Trinity has heard the same line in interview after interview. The more she heard it, without anything behind it, the less it meant. What makes it worse, in her view, is how close the fix seems to be. Just a matter of him following through. She said she could pull up clip after clip of him admitting the same mistake. That's why her response now is simple.
"Okay. Then do something," said Trinity.
From her perspective, it's not just reluctance. It's something deeper.
Dennis, she said, has long been "surrounded by a lot of toxic people." They take advantage of him, financially and otherwise. Alcohol hasn't helped. At times, in her words, the whole situation left him almost "brainwashed," without much control over "anything."
That eye roll, she added, also comes from frustration within her family. She, her mother and her siblings have tried to be a steady base for him. Something he could lean on to make things right. Others around him may have tried too, but she believes their intentions were impure.
"Me, my mom, and my brother, it was like, we just want you. And I think for him, he's never understood the fact, because he's never experienced it. He's had messed-up family issues as well, he's never understood that people could actually just want to be around him and to just want to, like, make him happy," she remarked.
Trinity also said on the podcast that it's hard to understand how her father thinks. What she does know is this. In her view, he often believes people are after his money. That mindset pushes him away from those closest to him. To her, it helps explain why nothing has really changed.
Trinity is 23 now. Dennis is in his mid-60s, so there's still time to fix some of it. But in her eyes, that would take real, difficult change. Not just more of those same words.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on May 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
