Wednesday, March 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
CHICAGO -- Dennis Rodman head-butted a referee, used profanity on live TV and kicked a cameraman. Now he's found yet another way to draw a suspension -- by elbowing Milwaukee's Joe Wolf in the groin.
"We understand why the league did it. We also understand that Dennis goes 100 percent every game and gives all he has," Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause said Tuesday. "He's just going to have to control himself in a better way."
Rodman's latest suspension, resulting from an incident in Monday night's win over Milwaukee, is for one game. He must sit out tonight's meeting with San Antonio and was also fined $7,500.
It's his fourth suspension -- totaling 20 games -- since joining the Bulls prior to last season.
During Chicago's 108-90 victory over the Bucks, Rodman elbowed Wolf in the groin with 2:10 left in the third quarter.
"The league thinks the hit below the belt was not an accident, the league thinks it was deliberate," Krause said. "And that's something that happened. There was contact below the belt and that's not supposed to happen."
After the groin shot, Rodman followed with an errant punch toward Wolf's head. On the next possession, Wolf got Rodman in a head lock and a double foul -- but no technical -- was called. Rodman was then removed from the game by coach Phil Jackson. Wolf was not punished.
When Rodman returned from his 11-game suspension after the All-Star break, a penalty assessed for kicking Minneapolis court side cameraman Eugene Amos, NBA commissioner David Stern said further violations could result in a lifetime ban from the league.
A league source said Tuesday that Stern considered the warning to be based on off-court incidents. This was strictly a game-related matter, and the source, who asked to remain unidentified, said Stern did not intend to get involved in this case.
Last season Rodman drew a six-game suspension for head-butting a referee. In December, he was suspended by the Bulls for two games for a profanity-filled tirade on live TV.
The 11-game suspension, announced Jan. 17, was the second longest in NBA history and cost Rodman about $1 million in salary and incentives. He reached a $200,000 out-of-court settlement with Amos.
Rodman got better news from another court Tuesday.
A federal judge ruled that a pinch on the buttocks Rodman allegedly gave an usher during a 1994 game against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City might have been insulting, but it wasn't "outrageous" and did not constitute battery.
U.S. District Court Judge David Sam dismissed the suit brought against Rodman by Lavon P. Ankers, a Salt Lake County woman who was an usher at the game.
In the Utah case, Rodman was accused of pinching the usher during a May 5, 1994, game between the Jazz and San Antonio. Rodman, then playing for the Spurs, was chasing a loose ball out of bounds and touched her while returning to the court.
Ankers claimed she was pinched. Rodman's agent, Dwight Manley, said Tuesday that Rodman only put his hand on Ankers' hip so he wouldn't knock her over on his way past.
Ankers sought $750,000 from Rodman, claiming the pinch in front of a local and national television audience -- as well as his then-girlfriend Madonna -- "greatly humiliated, shamed and embarrassed" her. She said she endured great mental suffering.
Rodman's attorneys responded by asking the judge to dismiss the suit for two reasons: it was filed after the deadline for such a claim and Rodman did not intentionally inflict emotional distress.
The judge agreed on both points.
Manley, called the Utah ruling "a great thing for justice."
"When Dennis does something wrong, he's the first to admit it, like in the Minnesota case," Manley said.
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