Players of the Golden State Warriors expressed concern about coming to Salt Lake City for the upcoming NBA playoff matchup because, well, “there is no nightlife in Salt Lake City.”
Warriors forward Matt Barnes said the lack of a nightlife will help him focus on the game instead. Meanwhile, Andre Iguodala said Salt Lake City will bore him and make him unfocused. Steph Curry, meanwhile, joked about his plans.
In response, Jazz forward Joe Ingles said he’d pay for a driver so the Warriors could spend time in Las Vegas instead of Salt Lake City.
Though this was a joke, it’s actually not a bad idea since NBA players have done that before.
According to The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman asked his coach for permission to head to Vegas while the team was in town for the 1997 NBA Finals.
“Rodman believed it was necessary; therapeutic, even,” The Chicago Tribune reported.
Then-Bulls coach Phil Jackson gave Rodman permission after the team lost to the Jazz 78-73 in Game 4 of the series.
"Dennis needs to dissipate energy sometimes," Jackson told the Tribune. "It builds up in him, and he has to get rid of it, whether it's on the dance floor or whatever. Sometimes Dennis plays a 40-minute game and then goes out and plays a 48-minute game afterward. He's got a perfect ability — I don't know what kind of biological clock he has in his system — to do that kind of thing and bounce back and feel better."
Rodman told the Tribune that he wanted to relax since the team had two days off.
But he wasn’t sure it actually worked out.
"I'm just in one of those funks right now. I've hit the wall and I don't know why. I'm not doing anything differently. But I'm a guy who needs to be free and have his own surroundings,” he said.
Rodman went to Vegas ahead of the Game 5 matchup (the infamous "Jordan flu game") at the old Delta Center (now the Vivint Smart Home Arena).
As the Deseret News reported, Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman went out to Vegas during the 1998 NBA Finals, too. In fact, Rodman asked the Las Vegas Hilton for $5,000 during his trip. The following day, Rodman came back and played 40 minutes in an 88-85 loss to the Jazz.
At one point, Rodman asked for more than $20,000 in betting chips.
Rodman returned to Vegas in 2001. He lost close to $80,000 during his trip for “rubbing the dice on the dealer's chest, bald head and crotch.”