Perhaps a long campaign to bring about diplomatic peace might have gotten… well… ‘code-browned.’ A bizarre allegation involving Hall-of-Fame basketball star Dennis Rodman resurfaced this week, shedding new light on the sudden fracture of his unlikely, high-profile bond with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. It comes as US President Donald Trump reportedly considers Rodman for important work. But is he a decade too late?
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A month ago, Trump confirmed he plans to meet Kim later this year. It’ll be the third sit-down between the two. Although the POTUS didn’t confirm a specific date, the New York Post reports that Rodman “is expected to join” Trump “on a midterm campaign trip” in Durant, Okla., this week.
“Trump wants to refocus again on North Korea and start talking about Kim Jong Un,” one source close to Rodman and familiar with White House travel plans told The Post. “Dennis believes he’s the ambassador of goodwill between North Korea and the United States. As Trump ponders what to do next, he’s been soliciting ideas and one of those key people he’s talking to is Dennis.”
No one yet knows whether Rodman will speak on stage at the mid-term campaign event, as neither the White House nor the NBA legend’s representatives have made any public comment.
Before getting into how Rodman and Kim first got to know each other and shared what the basketball player once called a friendship, Washington Post foreign policy columnist Josh Rogin reveals that Kim and Rodman’s friendship “broke off” after an incident during the Chicago Bulls legend’s stay in Pyongyang.
Rodman “allegedly got super drunk and allegedly defecated on the hotel room floor.” Rogin also noted that the Bulls legend “can’t help Trump with North Korean diplomacy anymore.”
Staff alleged that episodes of heavy intoxication led to property damage and public intoxication in a hallway. Rodman’s return to the United States after that trip coincided with his 2014 visit to alcohol rehabilitation facilities for a month-long program.
“Dennis Rodman came back from North Korea in pretty rough shape emotionally. The pressure that was put on him to be a combination ‘super human’ political figure and ‘fixer’ got the better of him,” Rodman’s agent, Darren Prince, said in a statement. “He is embarrassed, saddened and remorseful for the anger and hurt his words have caused.”
Upon returning from that 2014 visit, Rodman was heavily criticized for his bond with Kim and for going back after the initial 2013 visit. When a storm of reporters confronted him at the Beijing airport, the Bulls legend broke down, saying, “I’m not the president. I’m not an ambassador. I’m Dennis Rodman.”
The reported rift marked a dramatic end to one of the most eccentric personal dynamics in modern political and sports history. Rodman, arguably the greatest rebounder in NBA history and a central pillar of two Detroit Pistons “Bad Boys” championship teams and Michael Jordan’s 1990s Chicago Bulls dynasty, first embarked on his unorthodox “basketball diplomacy” tour to North Korea in 2013.
Rodman traveled for official business with a Vice film crew and three Harlem Globetrotters to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series. They were even seen having sushi for dinner and sharing drinks at Kim’s palace.
Kim grew up a devoted fan of the ’90s Chicago Bulls while attending boarding school in Switzerland. He loved playing basketball and even “spent hours doing meticulous pencil drawings” of Michael Jordan.
So when the opportunity to meet Rodman came, he welcomed the Hall of Famer without hesitation. Across at least five separate visits between 2013 and 2017, the pair were photographed sitting courtside during exhibition games and even enjoying leisure activities.
Rodman famously declared Kim a “friend for life” and even sang Happy Birthday to him. The Bulls legend also had the chance to cradle Kim’s infant daughter, Ju Ae, making global headlines by publicly revealing her name for the first time.
Yes, Rodman, whose history with Trump dates back to his appearance on The Celebrity Apprentice in 2009, is scheduled to drop by Trump’s rally soon, but this isn’t the first time the two have met publicly. The Worm previously attended the 2018 U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore as an informal observer.
The POTUS and Kim met thrice during Trump’s first term but have yet to meet during his second term in office. Their last interaction was a handshake meeting at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.
Trump is expected to fly to China and possibly the Philippines later this year for the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Whether he plans a stopover (along with Dennis Rodman) to engage with Kim on the way is unclear for now.
While neither Rodman’s representatives nor North Korean state media have said anything, the NBA and the political world wait to see how the situation develops.