Annie Bakes is a former fashion model, author, and the first wife of NBA player Dennis Rodman. Their daughter Alexis was born in 1988. The couple married in 1992 and divorced in 1993. Bakes later wrote a book about their years together. Her story includes a career in fashion, a long family bond, and a voice of her own.
In this article, you’ll learn about her work, the Detroit years, a 1989 court filing, her brief marriage, and the memoir. You’ll also see where her daughter fits in the Rodman family.
Let’s begin before the headlines about basketball and marriage.
Quick Facts
- Known for: Former model, author, and Dennis Rodman’s first wife
- Book author name: Anicka Rodman
- Child: Alexis Rodman, born in 1988
- Marriage: 1992 to 1993
- Book: Worse Than He Says He Is: White Girls Don’t Bounce
- Book year: 1997
Who Is Annie Bakes?
Annie Bakes worked as a model before she became widely known through Dennis Rodman. He was a strong rebounder and defender whose NBA career brought five titles. She had worked in fashion. She had a daughter with him before they married.
Her 1997 book is listed under the name Anicka Rodman. The title is Worse Than He Says He Is: White Girls Don’t Bounce. The published work tells readers that she had a story to share in her own name.
The wedding was brief as a chapter in her life. The family story started much earlier. Alexis was born four years before her parents wed. Their lives remained linked as parents after the marriage ended.
Her Work as a Model
Bakes worked in fashion while she was young. A library description for her book lists Paris, Milan, Tokyo, and New York among the places where she modeled by age twenty. These cities have long played major roles in the clothing business.
The list does not prove that she worked for a certain designer or fashion house. It tells us where she built her career. The simple fact of that work is worth noting, since many later stories mention her only in the context of a marriage.
Modeling came before the years of greater media focus on Rodman. That gives her life a clear starting point of its own. She was already working in a field far from an NBA court.
The Early Detroit Years
Bakes was linked to Rodman during his years with the Detroit Pistons. He played a key role on a team that won titles in 1989 and 1990. At that time, the league knew him for tireless defense and his skill near the basket.
Their daughter Alexis was born in 1988. That was before the Pistons won those championships. It was also long before Rodman became known to a larger audience through his time with the Chicago Bulls.
The birth date gives the family timeline its shape. There was already a child in their lives before the later wedding. Looking only at the marriage years can make that part of the story disappear.
The Court Filing in 1989
In June 1989, Bakes filed a paternity petition involving Rodman in Los Angeles Superior Court. A Deseret News report from June 1989 described requests for child support and a separate money claim.
The article reported what her attorney sought through the filing. A request in court is not the same as a judge’s final order. The report does establish that a public legal dispute occurred years before the couple married.
Later profiles of Rodman’s children identify Alexis as his daughter. That later fact puts the early news in context without making claims about private talks between her parents.
A Wedding After Years Together
Annie Bakes and Dennis Rodman married in 1992. A Los Angeles Times profile from March 1992 described the basketball player as married with a daughter. It also called Bakes a model from Sacramento.
The marriage ended in 1993. The short span may surprise readers who know their daughter was born back in 1988. It shows why the legal dates alone cannot tell the story of their years together.
Rodman went on to play for the Spurs and the Bulls. Bakes moved on from the marriage. Alexis remained their shared family tie, even as their public lives followed different paths.
A Career That Took a New Turn
After the split, Rodman became more widely known for his bold style and success with the Bulls. His public life grew larger. Bakes did not follow the same path to fame.
Instead, her next well-known work was a book. The publication gave her a chance to put her own account of the past into print. It was a different kind of public work from modeling.
A former partner may still keep appearing in sports stories long after a marriage has ended. That does not mean the person’s whole life is limited to the former relationship. Bakes had her own work before and after it.
The 1997 Memoir
The book Worse Than He Says He Is: White Girls Don’t Bounce was published in 1997. WorldCat lists Anicka Rodman and Alexander Scott as its authors and Dove Books as its publisher.
A memoir offers the writer’s own account. It is different from an independent court decision. The clear facts are that she wrote a book, it was published, and its subject was the relationship she had lived through.
For readers, the book matters because it is a work credited to her. They can learn that her story exists beyond the quotes and facts used in accounts of Rodman’s basketball career.
Alexis and the Larger Rodman Family
Alexis is Rodman’s oldest child and the only one he had with Bakes. His younger children, Dennis Jr. and Trinity, are children he had with Michelle Moyer. The family ties are set out in a People profile of his three children.
That detail clears up an easy mistake. Alexis and Trinity have the same father but different mothers. Dennis Jr., often known as DJ, is Alexis’s younger half-brother.
DJ pursued basketball, while Trinity became a professional soccer star. Alexis lives a much less public life. The three siblings do not need to choose the same career or share the same kind of fame.
When Alexis Became a Mother
Alexis married Robert Bunfill. In 2017, they welcomed a son, Vincent. Rodman shared his happiness about becoming a grandfather in a public message.
The milestone appears in Us Weekly’s family guide. It adds a new chapter to the story that began with Alexis’s birth in 1988.
It also reminds readers that the family continued to grow after the marriage ended. Those later events belong to Alexis and her family, not merely to her father’s years in the NBA.
Her Place in Basketball History
Annie Bakes knew Rodman during his rise in Detroit. That was before he won more titles with the Bulls and became a name that many people knew far beyond the world of sports.
Her life at the time included modeling, motherhood, and a public court dispute. The marriage took place later, and a memoir followed after the divorce. Those are distinct chapters, with their own dates, roles, and place in her personal life.
Keeping each event in order makes the whole story easier to follow. It also protects her own identity from being lost in a list of Rodman’s career highlights.
Final Thoughts
Bakes began her working life as a model, then became a mother and an author. She was linked to a famous athlete, but those other roles are just as important to an account of her life.
Their marriage was brief. Their daughter, though, was born several years before it. Alexis grew up and had a child of her own. That family story reaches well beyond the wedding and divorce. It spans many years of change.
The clearest view of Annie Bakes is also a more complete one: she worked, raised a daughter, and put her own story in a book. There is no need to add rumors to make those facts interesting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Annie Bakes Trinity Rodman’s mother?
No. Annie is the mother of Alexis Rodman. Trinity and Dennis Jr. are children of Rodman and Michelle Moyer.
Was Alexis born before the marriage?
Yes. Alexis was born in 1988, and her parents married in 1992.
What name appears on the memoir?
The 1997 book is listed under Anicka Rodman, with Alexander Scott also credited.
You may also read: Wanda Hutchins: The Family Life Beyond Michael Strahan.
