Dennis Rodman has named a team of former NBA players to play an exhibition basketball game in Pyongyang, North Korea. Rodman will lead the team that includes former NBA All-Stars Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson, and Vin Baker. Craig Hodges, Doug Christie and Charles D. Smith are on the team, as well. They will play against a top North Korean senior national team on Wednesday, marking Kim Jong Un's birthday.
Rodman is the highest profile American to meet Kim since the leader inherited power from his father in late 2011. Rodman calls the game his version of "basketball diplomacy." "My previous travels have allowed me to feel the enthusiasm and warmth of fans," Rodman said. "The positive memories and smiles on the faces of the children and families are a testament to the great efforts we have put into fulfilling our mission wherever we go voiding any politics. We are all looking forward to arriving in Pyongyang, meeting the citizens, visiting various charities and using the opportunity to develop new relationships that result in our annual return."
Rodman made his latest visit to North Korea shortly before Christmas to train the North Korean basketball team, though he did not meet with Kim. Rodman, known as much for his piercings, tattoos and bad behavior as he was for basketball, traveled to the secretive state for the first time last February with the Harlem Globetrotters for an HBO series produced by New York-based VICE television. Rodman has called Kim a "friend for life." Rodman said his trips would not be affected by the recent execution of Kim's uncle.
Smith, who played for the New York Knicks, said he was looking forward to the game with Rodman. "Dennis and I are total opposites but we work very well together," Smith said. "Dennis is one of the few people I know that doesn't just talk but actually lives a culturally diverse life. We have traveled everywhere together so I was not surprised with his first visit to North Korea. Cultural exchange is about sharing. Sharing ideas and thoughts on education, culture and life."
Irish betting company Paddy Power PLC — a driving force behind the exhibition — removed its name last month as the title sponsor. The company is still financing the trip and is honoring all contractual commitments. (…)

Former NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday to take part in a planned exhibition match between a North Korean team and a delegation of retired NBA players. The delegation arrived from Beijing on Air Koryo flight JS152 at 4PM Korean time and will take part in a basketball game against North Korea’s national team on Wednesday – to celebrate Kim Jong Un’s… birthday.
“It’s about trying to connect two countries together in the world, to let people know that, do you know what? Not every country in the world is that bad, especially North Korea,” Rodman told The Associated Press prior to departure. Michael Spavor, a consultant that organizes cultural and business exchanges in North Korea, posted photographs on his Twitter account of the team’s arrival in Pyongyang.
Responding to a Sky News journalist who said that he had a responsibility to raise the issue of human rights abuses during his trip, Rodman said that it was not his job. “The only thing I am doing right now, I am only doing one thing: this game is for his birthday. It’s for his birthday. And I hope that if this opens doors and we can actually talk about certain things, then we can do certain things but I am not going to sit there and go in and say ‘hey guy, you’re doing the wrong thing’,” Rodman added. Rodman, who toasted Kim Jong Un’s recently executed uncle Jang Song Thaek during a trip to North Korea in Spring 2013, has been undeterred by growing criticism over the timing of his latest basketball diplomacy trip to North Korea.
Growing criticism led Irish betting giant Paddy Power to pull out of sponsoring the trip on Christmas eve, citing “changed circumstances”. “We have been reviewing the partnership on an ongoing basis, and with the benefit of hindsight, we probably got this one wrong,” company spokesman Paddy Power (and son of Paddy Power’s founder, Paddy Power) tells NK News. But despite distancing themselves from the event, NK News has learnt that Paddy Power will still pay for the basketball diplomacy to take place due to “contractual obligations” with Rodman’s camp.
The ex-NBA delegation was announced on Saturday and includes former NBA All-Stars Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson, and Vin Baker. They are joined by fellow basketball players Doug Christie, Charles D. Smith, and Craig Hodges. The delegation is staying at the international class Koryo Hotel in downtown Pyongyang. British tour company Koryo Tours offered the chance for twelve tourists to attend the exhibition match for a price of around $8500 per person. A percentage of the fee will go towards funding the Deaf Kids House in Pyongyang – a project to help deaf children in North Korea, Koryo Tours said.