Washington Spirit star forward Trinity Rodman opened up about her strained relationship with her father and five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman.

In a rare interview, Trinity sat down with Alex Cooper on her behalf Call her dad Podcast and talked about how her father was absent for most of her life and how she and her siblings were affected by her father’s decisions.

The Olympic gold medal-winning soccer player has mostly avoided talking about Dennis’ role as a child, but said the interview broadcast Wednesday was her “opportunity to talk more – I don’t want to say it negatively, but more realistic about it.”

“He is human. He is not a father. Maybe through blood, but nothing else,” said Trinity, 22. Although Dennis earned a salary of $27 million over the course of his NBA career, according to Sportrac, Trinity said that she, her brother and her mother lived without a car at one point or another had to.

“We had (a Ford) Expedition and we lived in that for a while,” she continued. “We tried living with him but he throws parties 24/7 and brings random sluts over. My mother didn’t want to – she was strong enough to deal with it, because to this day I still believe that my father never loved anyone after my mother.”

She continued, “I think my mom just saw the situation: ‘We love each other.’ It won’t work. For my kids, I can’t let them see you treating me like that, embarrassing me like that, and having the party scene all the time.’”

Trinity said her mother, Michelle Moyer, ultimately chose what was best for her daughter and Trinity’s brother, DJ. Trinity praised 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 they were seeing their father “once, two, three, four times a year” at that point.

“Before the divorce happened, my dad actually helped financially,” Trinity explained. “He actually gave my mom money and let us live life for a bit, but then when the divorce happened he was like, ‘Fuck you!’

“I think he is an extremely selfish person,” she said. “I think everything was always about him.”

At 18, Trinity was drafted by the Washington Spirit in 2021, becoming the youngest player ever drafted into the National Women’s Soccer League at the time. In a media-remembered moment, Dennis appeared at the announced Spirit’s playoff quarterfinal game against the North Carolina Courage.

“When he showed up at my game, I was so mad,” recalls Trinity, who said she hadn’t seen or heard from him in months before his announced appearance. “I started crying on the field. So I try to play the football game and cry.”

Washington defeated North Carolina and would go on to win the NWSL title, but Trinity said his sudden appearance brought mixed emotions.

“I was so angry. I thought, ‘You’ve taken this happy moment away from me.’ ‘You’ve screwed me over the head again,'” she said. “I walk over there so angry, like I’m saying, ‘Fuck you.’ I go there, he grabs my head and I just start crying into his arms like it’s father-daughter (wait).”

The hug between her and her father went viral on social media and messaging platforms. Trinity shared an Instagram post with 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 who will never change.” “. I will improve every day and look forward to it, as I hope he will.”

After that game, however, Trinity said there was “radio silence.”

“I didn’t see him until about this year,” she told Cooper. “I’m stupid for thinking this would be some kind of new spark. That was me every time. He came over and I said, “Okay, here it is again.” We’re going to start something. He will be near.’ Boom, months and months and months. This time it was years.”

She said: “I think after that I lost hope of ever getting him back.”

Although her relationship with her father remains strained, Trinity said she still answers the phone because of her “conscience.”

“If something happens, God forbid, I want to know that I did that or if he needed to hear my voice before something happens,” she said. “That’s why I answer the phone, not for me.”