If there’s one man in NBA history who you would expect to create an unlikely friendship with none other than North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un, it would be Dennis Rodman. ‘The Worm’, despite winning 5 championships over the course of a 14 year career, felt as though he wanted more from life.
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Rodman’s time off NBA hardwood was riddled with alcohol, women, and flashy clothes. He made headlines everywhere he went due to his extravagant endeavours. Perhaps one of the most extravagent of them all was when he trekked to Pyongyang in February of 2013.
It was Kim who invited Rodman and a slew of other retired basketball players to come play an exhibition game in North Korea. In fact, Rodman wasn’t his first choice as he initially wanted Michael Jordan to come over as he was a massive fan of the Chicago Bulls, but this never came to fruition.
Magic Johnson went off on Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman built up quite the friendship with Kim Jong-Un during his stay there. So much so that he would continually visit the dictator year after year for recreational purposes. However, that first visit where he would play a basketball game in North Korea is what seemed to tick Magic Johnson off.
“It’s pathetic. You can’t go to a place that is trying to harm us. I wasn’t too happy about him going over there. You taking a team over there and everybody over there is ‘this’ high and of course you should win the game, they’re not tall. And they still lost. Dennis is only 60 so it wasn’t that hard to beat him,” said Magic.
Dennis has reiterated over and over again that he feels as though Kim Jong-Un is a ‘great guy’ and a ‘friend for life’. He has however, disputed the notion that he is in any way, shape, or form a diplomat, despite the fact that he constantly tries to sell the American public on the idea of a ‘peaceful’ North Korea.
