Dennis Rodman married himself to sell a book

The hook

August 21, 1996. A Bulls forward pulls up to a book signing in a horse-drawn carriage, wearing a white wedding gown, a veil and full makeup. He tells the crowd he is marrying himself.

The Look

A custom gown, makeup by Kevyn Aucoin, women in tuxedos walking him in. He took the idea from Howard Stern, who had done a drag stunt for his own book a year earlier, then went much further.

"An act of both defiance and acceptance." — Tim Keown, co-author

What was happening

The hair came first

He kept changing his hair color, and in 1995 wore an AIDS awareness ribbon dyed into it. The league was selling clean-cut stars. Rodman was selling himself, and it was hard to argue with a man who led the NBA in rebounds seven straight seasons.

The detail people forgot

The book hit number one

Bad As I Wanna Be topped the New York Times bestseller list and stayed on it for 20 weeks. His co-author called the stunt "borderline revolutionary for an American pro athlete." Neither the league nor his team signed off on it.

Why it matters now

Athletes in skirts, pearls and gender-fluid tailoring now make a slow news day. Rodman did it in 1996, mid-career, mid-dynasty, with the whole league watching.

He got there 25 years early.