North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un is a huge basketball fan and loves the Chicago Bulls. Despite the tension with the United States, a former NBA player was able to visit the Asian country several times to serve as an unofficial peace ambassador.
Dennis Rodman first made the trip to North Korea in February 2013 along with several members of Vice Media. Rodman and his crew became the first Americans to meet Kim since he became the supreme leader. He returned seven months later and met Kim's daughter, Kim Ju-ae.
"My mission is to break the ice between hostile countries," Rodman told Sports Illustrated that same year.•
70% Win
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70% Win
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70% Win
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'; }); pollOptions.innerHTML = pollOptionsDom; pollCount.innerHTML = totalVotes + ' votes'; if (totalVotes > 10) { pollCount.classList.remove("hidden"); } } function trackBetsTodayPollImpression() { var intersectionObserverForArticlePoll = new IntersectionObserver( function(entries) { entries.forEach(function(entry) { var pollId = entry.target.getAttribute("data-poll-id"); if (POLLS_BY_ID[pollId]['impression_tracked']) return; if (!entry.target || !entry.isIntersecting || entry.intersectionRatio < 0.5) return; setTimeout(function() { if (isInViewport(entry.target)) { POLLS_BY_ID[pollId]['impression_tracked'] = true; var isDesktop = "1"; var gaPayload = { "question" : POLLS_BY_ID[pollId]['question'], "category": "Basketball", "page_url": window.location.href, "option1": POLLS_BY_ID[pollId]['option1'], "option2": POLLS_BY_ID[pollId]['option2'], } if (isDesktop) { gaPayload["device"] = "Desktop"; } else { gaPayload["device"] = "Mobile"; } gtag("event", "BETS_TODAY_POLL_IMPRESSION", gaPayload); intersectionObserverForArticlePoll.unobserve(entry.target); } }, 1000); }); }, { threshold: 0.5 } ); var pollElements = document.querySelectorAll('.bets-today-poll'); pollElements.forEach(function(pollElement) { var isAnswered = pollElement.querySelector(".poll-option-answered"); if (!isAnswered) { intersectionObserverForArticlePoll.observe(pollElement); } }) } return { answerPollX: answerPollX, }; }(); "Why it's been left to me to smooth things over? I don't know. Dennis Rodman, of all people. Keeping us safe is really not my job, it's the (Barack Obama's) job."In the last decade, Dennis Rodman has made several trips to North Korea in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Rodman was so influential that he even helped facilitate the release of Kenneth Bae. Bae is an American-born South Korean evangelist who was convicted of trying to overthrow the North Korean regime.
In 2014, Rodman also brought a handful of NBA players for an exhibition game in the country. Players like Kenny Anderson, Vin Baker, Doug Christie, Sleepy Floyd, Craig Hodges, Clifford Robinson and Charles D. Smith played in front of Kim Jong-un.
There were even speculations that Rodman worked for the Central Intelligence Agency or CIA as an intelligence officer. However, the agency and the five-time NBA champ have not confirmed or denied the rumors.
North Korea has its own rules for basketball
Kim Jong-un loves basketball so much that he created a new set of rules for the sport in his country. These might be the key to making basketball more entertaining for fans.
Here are some of the rules of North Korean basketball:
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