Annie Bakes is a former model, author, and the first wife of NBA star Dennis Rodman. Born Anicka Bakes, she worked in Paris, Milan, Tokyo, and New York. A car crash later ended her modeling career. She and Rodman had daughter Alexis in 1988. They married in 1992. The marriage soon ended. In 1997, she published Worse Than He Says He Is, a memoir about their troubled years together.
In this article, you’ll learn about Annie Bakes’s modeling years, how she met Dennis Rodman, and their daughter Alexis. You’ll also learn about the short marriage, the claims in her memoir, and the much quieter life she built after the 1990s.
She Had a Modeling Career Before Dennis Rodman
Before basketball fame entered her life, she was already working in fashion. By age 20, she had modeled in Paris, Milan, Tokyo, and New York.
OverDrive’s record for her 1997 memoir describes that period. It also identifies her as Anicka Rodman.
The work meant travel and long days. It gave her a life built around fashion before most sports fans knew Dennis Rodman’s name. Annie Bakes had a career of her own first.
A Car Crash Ended the Modeling Years
A serious car crash changed that path, and the account tied to her memoir says the accident ended her modeling career.
The timing was harsh. One part of her life had closed just as another was becoming much more public. The next several years brought motherhood, NBA fame, and a relationship that grew harder as Rodman’s profile rose.
She Met Rodman Before His Celebrity Image Took Over
Annie Bakes and Dennis Rodman began dating in 1987, when he was a young forward with the Detroit Pistons and only a year into his NBA career.
The bright hair, tattoos, and Bulls titles came later. So did the television appearances and larger-than-life image. Their relationship began before the version of Rodman that most fans remember today.
By 1988, they were parents, and that changed the shape of the relationship.
Alexis Rodman Was Born in 1988
Their daughter, Alexis Rodman, was born on September 28, 1988.
People’s updated profile of Dennis Rodman’s children identifies Alexis as his oldest child and the only child he shares with Annie Bakes.
The couple had an on-and-off relationship, and People reported that they had separated at least once before they married. Alexis entered a family that was already under strain.
Detroit Success and Trouble at Home Grew Together
Rodman’s rise with the Pistons happened during the same years.
Detroit won NBA titles in 1989 and 1990. Rodman became one of the league’s best defenders and rebounders. His game was built on energy and a rare feel for where a missed shot would land.
Then the team began to change as coach Chuck Daly left and key players moved on. Rodman also struggled away from the court.
ESPN’s account of Rodman’s career places the painful split from his first wife inside that 1992–93 crisis. The team was changing. Trouble at home was unfolding at the same time.
For Annie Bakes, those years also meant raising a young daughter while the relationship was falling apart.
The 1992 Marriage Lasted Only Weeks
The couple married in September 1992 after they had already spent several years together.
The marriage did not last, and People reports that they divorced after only 82 days.
The wedding was brief, but the full relationship was not, and Alexis was already four years old when her parents married.
She had known Rodman before the Bulls years and before his public image became almost as famous as his basketball career.
Her 1997 Memoir Told Her Side of the Marriage
Several years after the split, she put her own account into a book.
The title was Worse Than He Says He Is: White Girls Don’t Bounce: My Walk on the Wild Side With Dennis Rodman. Phoenix Books released it in 1997.
In the memoir, she accused Rodman of cheating and manipulation. She also alleged violent fights and abuse. Those claims formed her account of what happened inside the relationship.
The book gave Annie Bakes a way to speak in her own voice after years in which the public story had mostly centered on Rodman.
The Book Arrived at the Height of Rodman’s Fame
By 1997, Rodman had won three more NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and had become one of the most recognizable athletes in America.
His hair, piercings, clothes, and public stunts were almost as famous as his rebounding. The public often saw a loud, funny, and unpredictable star.
Her memoir described something much darker at home, far from the playful public image around Rodman.
The timing made the contrast sharper. Rodman was playing beside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. The Bulls were in the middle of another title run, and his fame had moved far beyond basketball.
Her book shifted the view from the showman on television to the years she said she experienced in private. That contrast kept Annie Bakes connected to Rodman’s public story long after the divorce.
Alexis Grew Up With Distance From Her Father
The divorce did not end the family story because Alexis still connected both parents.
In 1996, Rodman became emotional while talking about his daughter on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Years later, he said they had gone long periods without seeing each other.
People reported that Rodman spent a full day with Alexis in 2013 after years apart. He said the reunion left him shocked and unsure how to act.
Alexis was 24 by then, and while the meeting did not erase the lost years, it marked a change in their relationship.
Alexis Later Built a Family of Her Own
Alexis did not follow her father into pro sports. She also did not build a public career around the Rodman name.
She married Robert Bunfill in California in August 2014. Their son, Vincent, was born in 2017.
Rodman celebrated the birth publicly and said he could not believe he had become a grandfather.
The daughter born during the Detroit years had grown up and started a family of her own. For Annie Bakes, that marked a new stage too. She had spent years raising Alexis through a difficult family period.
Life After the Memoir Became Much Quieter
After the book and the height of Rodman’s 1990s fame, she moved away from celebrity attention.
She did not build a television career from the marriage. She did not become a regular talk-show guest. She also did not turn her name into a large public brand.
Most later coverage still connects her with Rodman, Alexis, and the 1997 memoir.
Her exact current wealth is not publicly established. A later marriage is not clearly documented. Her present job and daily routine also remain private.
The 1990s were public, while the years that followed were much quieter.
Her Story Is Part of Rodman’s Fatherhood Story
Dennis Rodman has three children. Alexis came first.
His younger children, D.J. and Trinity Rodman, were born during his later relationship with Michelle Moyer. Both have spoken about hard parts of their bond with their father.
Alexis faced that issue years earlier.
Rodman has said fatherhood was hard for him. He has linked some of that struggle to his own childhood and the lack of a steady father figure.
That history gives the years of motherhood more weight. Annie Bakes was raising Alexis while Rodman’s career, fame, and personal life were changing fast.
Her Life Today
As of 2026, she does not have a major public career or a regular media presence.
Her memoir remains available in print and audio. Her name still appears when people look back at Rodman’s first marriage, the Detroit Pistons years, and his relationship with Alexis.
The rest of her life has stayed much more private, away from the celebrity attention of the 1990s.
Her known story is already substantial. She had an international modeling career. A crash ended that work. She became a mother in 1988. She married Rodman in 1992. Later, she wrote about the relationship in her own words.
Her Life Was Bigger Than One Famous Marriage
Annie Bakes is often introduced only as Dennis Rodman’s first wife. That label covers only one chapter.
Her life crossed fashion, sports fame, motherhood, divorce, and writing. She knew Rodman before his image became larger than basketball. She also lived through the first years of his rise in Detroit.
Her memoir made sure her version of those years did not disappear. After that, she chose a much quieter path.
If you want another story about a woman who built a private family life beside a famous sports figure, read our profile of Miah Harbaugh and her years with Jim Harbaugh.
