Trinity Rodman, the star forward of the Washington Spirit, was candid about her strained relationship with her father and five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman.
In a rare interview, Trinity sat down with Alex Cooper for her Call Her Daddy podcast, and opened up about how her father has been absent throughout most of her life, and how she and her siblings have been affected by their father's decisions.
The Olympic gold medal-winning soccer player has mostly avoided discussing Dennis' role growing up, but said the interview aired on Wednesday was her “opportunity to, kind of, talk more — I don't want to say negatively, but more realistic about it.”
“He's a person. He's not a dad. Maybe by blood, but nothing else,” Trinity, 22, said. Despite Dennis earning a reported $27 million salary across his NBA career, per Sportrac, Trinity said that she, her brother, and mother had to live out of a car at one point.
“We had (a Ford) Expedition and we kind of lived in that for a little bit,” she continued. “We tried to live with him, but he's having parties 24/7, he is bringing random bitches in. My mom didn't want — She was strong enough to deal with it because even to this day, I still believe that my dad hasn't loved anyone after my mom.”
She continued, “I think my mom just saw the situation of: 'We love each other. It's not gonna work. For my kids, I can't have them seeing you treat me this way, embarrass me this way and have the party scene all the time.'”
Trinity said that her mother, Michelle Moyer, ultimately chose what was best for her daughter and Trinity's brother DJ. Trinity credited her mother for protecting her and her brother throughout their childhood.
Moyer filed for divorce in 2004, which was dissolved in 2012, and Trinity said that at that point they were seeing their father “once, two, three, four times a year.”
“Before the divorce happened, my dad was actually helping money wise,” Trinity explained. “He would actually give money to my mom and let us kind of live life a little bit, but then when the divorce happened, it was just like, 'Fuck you guys.'
“I think he's an extremely selfish human being,” she said. “I think everything has always been about him.”
At 18 years old, Trinity was drafted by the Washington Spirit in 2021, and at the time was the youngest player to be drafted into the National Women's Soccer League. In a moment memorialized by the media, Dennis appeared at the Spirit's playoffs quarterfinal match against the North Carolina Courage announced.
“When he showed up at my game, I was, like, so mad,” recalled Trinity, who said that prior to him showing up announced, she had not seen or heard from him in months. “I started crying on the field. So I'm trying to play the soccer game and I'm crying.”
Washington defeated North Carolina and would go on to win the NWSL title, but Trinity said his sudden appearance brought mixed feelings.
“I was so mad. I was like 'You took this happy moment from me. You fucked with my head again,'” she said. “I'm walking over there so mad, like 'Fuck you.' I walk over there, he grabs my head and I just start bawling into his arms as if it's a daddy-daughter [moment].”
The embrace between her and her father went viral across social media and news platforms. Trinity shared an Instagram post, writing in the caption: “We don't have the best relationship, but at the end of the day he's human I'm human… he's my dad, and I'm his little girl that will never change . I will improve and look forward everyday as I hope he does.”
However, after that game, Trinity said it was “radio silence.”
“I didn't see him for, like, until this year,” she told Cooper. “Stupid me for thinking that was gonna be some type of new spark. That was me every single time. He would come around, and I'd be like 'Okay, here it is again. We're gonna start something. He's gonna be around.' Boom, months and months and months. This time, it was years.”
She said, “I think after that was when I lost hope in ever getting him back.”
Although her relationship with her father continues to be strained, Trinity said that she still answers the phone for her “conscience.”
“If something does happen, God forbid, I want to know that I did that, or if he needed to hear my voice before anything happens,” she said. “That's why I answer the phone, not for me.”
