PYONGYANG, North Korea, Feb. 28 (UPI) — U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman joined North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a game between teams with both U.S. and North Korean players Thursday.
Witnesses said Rodman sat next to Kim and the two men appeared to be enjoying each other’s company, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported. They were described as chatting without interpreters and laughing.
The game ended in a 110-110 tie. The scratch teams included players from North Korea and the U.S. exhibition team, the Harlem Globetrotters.
After the game, Rodman thanked North Korea for the invitation to him and the Globetrotters.
“Although relations between the two countries are regrettable, personally I am a friend of Marshal Kim Jong Un and the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] people.”
The Globetrotters are scheduled to remain in North Korea until March 5, Xinhua said. Rodman is expected to depart earlier.
Rodman spent most of his NBA career with the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls, and was as well-known for his antics as his skill in rebounding. He left the NBA after playing 12 games with the Dallas Mavericks in the 1999-2000 season.
Rodman is the first prominent American to meet Kim since he succeeded his father as North Korean leader.
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