Why Nick Kyrgios likes being compared to basketball legends Dennis Rodman and Allen Iverson

Nick Kyrgios has revealed the amount he’s been fined for “wild moments” in his tennis career, and how he likes being compared to basketball legends Dennis Rodman and Allen Iverson.

Australian tennis bad boy Nick Kyrgios has confessed he’s copped nearly $500,000 in fines over the course of his career, and likes being compared to controversial basketball legends Dennis Rodman and Allen Iverson

Talking to boxing champ Mike Tyson, Kyrgios said he had “wild moments” in his tennis career but could live with the “huge” half-a-million dollars in fines because they went to charity.

The tennis player, who recently showed off a back full of new Pokemon tattoos, also revealed he enjoyed being likened to Rodman and Iverson, two of the most polarising figures in basketball history.

Dennis Rodman positions for rebound during game four of 1997 NBA Finals.

Allen Iverson gets a shot past Ty Lawson in 2009. Picture: Matt Slocum

Asked how he felt being compared to Rodman on Tyson’s Hot Boxing podcast, Kyrgios said: “I reckon it’s cool, I kind of feel that the athletes I like are Allen Iverson, Dennis Rodman, guys like that, who kind of did it their way. I like that (being compared to them),” he said

But not all of Kyrgios’ many social media followers agreed.

“Dennis Rodman was a champion focused on winning, you are such a talented guy but you don’t even try,” said one.

“Rodman?!” simply questioned another.

Kyrgios with his bright green Tesla. Picture: Instagram

Kyrgios shows off his bad boy Pokemon tatts. Picture: Instagram

NBA Hall of Famer Rodman — best known for being part of the Chicago Bulls team of the mid to late ‘90s — is one of basketball’s most famous and controversial figures.

Hit doco The Last Dance covers many of Rodman’s most well known moments, including his relationships with Madonna and Carmen Electra, his penchant for cross-dressing and his impromptu mid-season trips to Vegas.

But he is also infamous for striking up a surprise friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and calling Vladimir Putin a ‘cool guy’.

Rodman on his way to North Korea. Picture: AAP

Dennis Rodman in Melbourne with a Havana cigar.

Rodman, who was at one point an alcoholic, has been arrested several times over the years including in November 1999 when, together with his then-wife Carmen Electra, he was charged over battery allegations following an incident at a hotel in Miami Beach — the charges were later dropped for both.

And in 2017, Rodman was given 30 hours of community service over a hit-and-run accident he caused by driving the wrong way down a freeway in Orange County, California, and then later providing false information to a police officer.

Possibly the most talked about transgression of Rodman’s NBA career was when he skipped a practice session for the Chicago Bulls ahead of the fourth game of the 1998 NBA Finals in order to wrestle alongside Hulk Hogan at a WCW Nitro event in Detroit.

Allen Iverson is another of the most polarising players in the history of basketball, with many adoring him and others arguing he’s a criminal.

He was famously once convicted and jailed after a high-profile, racially-charged trial for allegedly hitting a white woman over the head with a chair in a bowling alley brawl, knocking her unconscious.

The conviction was later overturned.