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In an alternate universe, Kerr could have met the North Korean leader. As it turned out, a former Bulls player did indeed fill that role, albeit without government approval. Rodman became the first known U.S. citizen to meet Kim since he assumed power when he made his first of three trips to Pyongyang in 2012. Rodman’s first trip occurred in January 2012, eight months after Noland’s meeting, and Kerr said he remembers watching it on TV and seeing all the blowback The Worm got for his rogue trip.
Had Obama green-lighted the mission, Noland envisioned Kerr knocking down a few shots to remind Kim “who’s boss.” Kerr said there is no way he’d have purposely lost unless Obama advised him to. From what he’s heard about North Korea’s ruling family, the true result of the game likely would never have reached the public anyway. He referenced the legend of Kim’s father, Kim Jong-Il, allegedly shooting a 34 — that’s 38-under par — at the 18-hole Pyongyang Golf Club in 1994. “I’m going all out, because it doesn’t matter,” Kerr said. “Because the report in the international media would have been that he skunked me. I know (his father) made a birdie on every round of his golf score that one time. So he would have destroyed me in H-O-R-S-E, too.”
Daniel Dale: Trump is asked on Fox Sports Radio if he's asked Kim Jong Un about his love of the '90s Chicago Bulls. He says Kim "really does like Dennis Rodman," then that he thinks Rodman would be better than "some of these stiffs" from Harvard the US usually sends over to North Korea.
Ahead of the second summit in Hanoi, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un requested as part of the agreement between the countries moving forward that the U.S. send "famous basketball players" to normalize relations between the two countries, according to two U.S. officials.
Basketball diplomacy has been tossed around in the past as a way to breakdown roadblocks with Kim, who is a diehard basketball fan. Since boarding school in Switzerland, Kim has said he loves playing basketball and would wear a Chicago Bulls sweatshirt and Nike sneakers.
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During the Obama administration, State Department officials considered sending basketball players to North Korea to jumpstart diplomatic efforts, according to the Washington Post. Kim Jong Un's father Kim Jong Il was also a fan of basketball and requested that the U.S. send Michael Jordan to North Korea. "When I was there on my trips, the father [Kim Jong Il] through his foreign ministry people wanted me to extend an invitation to Michael Jordan," former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson recalled from his communications in 2000 in an interview with ABC News.
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman predicts President Donald Trump could win a Nobel Peace Prize if he reaches a nuclear deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — and he's willing to help. Rodman is not in Vietnam, site of this week's summit, though he had gone to Singapore in 2018 when the leaders first met. Writing in a letter to the president that he shared on Twitter, Rodman promised after the summit to follow up "with you, your team and my good friend, Chairman Kim."
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: How has this rampant anti-intellectualism, which historically is always the first step toward fascism, spread so thoroughly through the American society that once lauded the kind of rational thought that ushered in the Enlightenment and the Renaissance? Well, look at Trump, who often brags that he doesn't need to prepare to meet with world leaders to discuss complex negotiations because he has great instincts and goes with his gut. Before meeting with North Korean despot Kim Jong Un, Trump acknowledged he didn't need facts or information from experts, he would rely on "just my touch, my feel." Even though this technique usually results in him issuing false statements (an average of 7.6 a day, according to The Washington Post's "Fact Checker" column), getting facts wrong and having to go back on his promises, he still relies on his gut. In proudly admitting this, he encourages other Americans to do the same.
Has Dennis Rodman, the former NBA star-turned pal of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, been benched for Chinese hoop legend Yao Ming? The former Houston Rockets center, basketball Hall of Famer, and eight-time NBA all-star took center court in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, on Tuesday as Chinese and North Korean basketball players held a friendly match, part of a high-profile sports exchange between the two countries intended to help thaw ties that had been growing chilly over the past year. Senior ruling party officials turned up for the game, but Kim, who was famously serenaded with the birthday song by Rodman in Pyongyang in January 2014, didn’t attend. On the court, Chinese female basketball players who are visiting Pyongyang this week mixed together with North Korean female players to form two teams, called “Friendship” and “Unity.” The Unity team won the match, 107 to 106.
Dennis Rodman made an appearance at Pearl Jam’s Wrigley Field gig in Chicago last night. During his time on the mic, he talked about North Korea—a subject he’s discussed numerous times in recent months.
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Rodman, who expects Tuesday's summit to be a success, said the outcome would be dependent on the ability of the two leaders to strike up a personal relationship. "If Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump understand and have a smooth comfortable relationship, smile, laugh, joke ... It ain't gotta be war. It's gotta be something, everyone, is comfortable with." Rodman said Kim, who was educated in Switzerland, "understands bits and pieces" of English. "I think people understand that Kim Jong Un is not a dumb man," said Rodman. "He's trying to protect his people, his honor, and everything that has to do with his country."
Wearing a red "Make America Great Again" baseball cap, the former NBA Hall-of-Famer said that Tuesday's historic meeting was years in the making. "It's a great day. I am here to see it. I'm so happy," he said. Rodman, who has previously boasted of his role in bringing the two leaders together, described how he always believed in helping North Korea. "Once I got familiar with the culture and situation, I felt like I was at home," he said of his previous trips to the reclusive country, initially as part of a basketball delegation.
Dennis Rodman: Good meeting former Homeland Security advisor @TomBossert45 today in Singapore. We had a great conversation about my trips to Pyongyang opening the doors and what a tremendous job @POTUS Trump has been doing and the historical results he had today. #MakeAmericaGreatAgain#USA
Good meeting former Homeland Security advisor @TomBossert45 today in Singapore. We had a great conversation about my trips to Pyongyang opening the doors and what a tremendous job @POTUS Trump has been doing and the historical results he had today. #MakeAmericaGreatAgain#USA pic.twitter.com/Bk8wParAQS
— Dennis Rodman (@dennisrodman) June 12, 2018
Enes Kanter: We got @Dennis Rodman with the MAGA hat, discussing North Korean foreign policy while crying live on @CNN You are my freaking IDOL... 😂 pic.twitter.com/ASzhas8R4q
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