Updated: July 19, 2012, 11:21 AM ET
MANILA, Philippines -- Former NBA star Dennis Rodman has finally met his estranged father after 42 years of separation, following an exhibition game in the Philippines.
Rodman told fans who attended the game that his father was in the stands, using a microphone during a timeout with just 16 seconds remaining in the game.
"I haven't seen my father in 42 years, but that's him sitting right there," Rodman said, according to the Philipine Daily Inquirer. The newspaper reported that Rodman pointed to the area of the stands where his father, Philander Rodman Jr., was sitting. Rodman's father was wearing a cap with the words "Yes, Dennis Rodman is my son" on it.
The elder Rodman, who has acknowledged fathering 29 children by 16 mothers, says he was happy and surprised that his son agreed to meet him late Wednesday. He tried to meet the basketball Hall of Famer during another game in Manila in 2006.
"He accepted me as his father. That's the first time he ever called me his father," Philander told reporters, according to ABS-CBN Interactive, the website for a television network in the Philippines. "I really don't know what I'm gonna say."
Rodman's father, who has been living in the Philippines for nearly 50 years, said Thursday he wanted to explain to his son that he didn't abandon his family in the United States, but they only had time for greetings and handshakes.
"I love my son. I just want to talk to him, about all the wrong things he said about me, talk to him so we can get this fixed," he told reporters, according to ABS-CBN Interactive.
The Vietnam War veteran now operates the Rodman's Rainbow Obamaburger restaurant in northern Angeles City.
According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Rodman said in a news conference Tuesday that, "I'm gonna be glad if he shows up in the game."
"I don't hate my father. Everyone here knows that my father lives in this country. I don't hate him," he said Tuesday, according to the newspaper.
Information from The Associated Press
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