It's common to think Hanamichi is based on Dennis Rodman. But if you look at the manga release dates of Oct 1990. That is before Rodman's colorful hairs and rebound titles. In the 1989-1990 season Rodman averaged <10 rebounds a game. Rodman didn't start getting funky until he went to San Antonio in 1993.
At that point he could have influenced the manga,but Hanamichi still came first. I would guess little of the Hanamichi character was inspired by Rodman. The manga ended in June 1996, that's about the end of Rodman's first season with the bulls (which made him an global icon)
It's even possible that Rodman knew about the Hanamichi character and modeled himself after it. The man knew all about pop culture and wouldnt surprise me one bit if he knew about some unknown Japanese manga.
Answers & Comments
Answer:
Hanamichi came before Rodman
It's common to think Hanamichi is based on Dennis Rodman. But if you look at the manga release dates of Oct 1990. That is before Rodman's colorful hairs and rebound titles. In the 1989-1990 season Rodman averaged <10 rebounds a game. Rodman didn't start getting funky until he went to San Antonio in 1993.
At that point he could have influenced the manga,but Hanamichi still came first. I would guess little of the Hanamichi character was inspired by Rodman. The manga ended in June 1996, that's about the end of Rodman's first season with the bulls (which made him an global icon)
It's even possible that Rodman knew about the Hanamichi character and modeled himself after it. The man knew all about pop culture and wouldnt surprise me one bit if he knew about some unknown Japanese manga.