Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman visits North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un for his birthday
Rodman brought a roster of former NBA All-Stars, including Kenny Anderson, Vin Baker and Cliff Robinson. Former Knick Charles Smith also came along for the ride. Rodman has an unlikely friendship with the murderous Korean dictator.
By Irving Dejohn / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, January 6, 2014, 9:15 AM
Kim Kwang Hyon/AP
Dennis Rodman embraces a North Korea official after arriving in the capital of Pyongyang. He has become a frequent visitor to the hostile country, in what he calls a campaign of 'basketball diplomacy.' This time, Rodman is coming to celebrate dictator Kim Jong Un's birthday on Wednesday.
Foregoing a cake, star power forward-turned-unlikelist of ambassadors
Dennis Rodman gifted North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un a roster of ex-NBA ballers for his birthday.
Rodman continued his bizarre bro-mance Monday with the ruthless overlord by courting a stable of former players including Kenny Anderson, Vin Baker and ex-Knick Charles D. Smith for the birthday exhibition game, slated for Wednesday.
Kim Kwang Hyon/AP
U.S. basketball player Jerry Dupree (center) uses a mobile camera to take a photograph as he and fellow players including former NBA player Vin Baker (right) arrive at the international airport in Pyongyang on Monday.
The flamboyant forward, one of most prolific rebounders in recent NBA history, has become a fixture in hostile country, launching a campaign of what he calls “basketball diplomacy.”
Kim Kwang Hyon/AP
Former NBA basketball player Vin Baker arrives at the international airport in Pyongyang. He is part of Dennis Rodman's team of players that will square off against a set of professional players from North Korea in a friendly exhibition.
"That’s not the right thing to do. He’s my friend first. He’s my friend. I don’t give a s--- I tell the world: he’s my f------ friend, I love him,”
he ranted to a reporter from Sky News.
JIM MONE/AP
Baker played in the NBA from 1993 until 2006. He split his time between six different teams, including the MIlwaukee Bucks, Seattle Supersonics and New York Knicks.
Rodman has received criticism — and a set of death threats — for his relationship with the tyrant, he conceded. The U.S., which has maintained virtually no relationship with Un or previous dictator Kim Jong Il, has condemned the country’s nuclear activity and deplorable human right’s record.
Despite the full-court press on “The Worm,” Rodman assembled an impressive roster of talent, which will tip off with a professional North Korea players.
YONHAP/REUTERS
A still image taken from North Korea's state-run KRT television footage and released by Yonhap shows Jang Song Thaek being forcibly removed by uniformed personnel from a meeting. Thaek, the uncle of leader Kim Jong Un, was later executed.
Kenny Anderson, a Queens-bred point guard, was a former first-round draft pick that played from 1991 to 2005. Baker, who split his time between several teams, made four All-Star Game appearances.
YONHAP/AFP/Getty Images
Thaek was reportedly stripped naked, placed in a cage and a pack of ravenous dogs feasted on him. Rodman said he was undettered by the reports and would continued his planned visit.
Smith played with the Knicks during their ill-fated NBA Finals run where they fell to the Houston Rockets in the '94-'95 season.
WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images
The players, including ex-Knick Charles Smith (not pictured), said they were looking forward to trying to extend an olive branch between the hostile country and the world with their game. Smith said the idea of sports playing a role in diplomacy is 'nothing new.'
“The team is made up of a lot of guys who really care, that’s the most important, it’s not about bringing dream-teamers,” Smith said. “It’s about guys who are coming that want to be a part of this, that care, and really that care about humanity.”
Rodman’s visit comes on the heels of a gruesome report last week that Un executed his high-ranking uncle by throwing him into a cage naked and having a pack of 120 dogs ravage his body.
Rodman boxed out any assertions that he should take a more active role in pushing for human rights progress, or even lobby for the release of Kenneth Bae, an American held captive for “anti-state” crimes.
"People say so many negative things about North Korea. And I want people in the world to see it's not that bad,” Rodman told reporters.
In order to keep the game friendly — and maybe Rodman’s roster from being mauled by hounds — the ex-NBA players and Korean ballers will be mixed after the first half.
With News Wire Services
