Fresh off his second trip in six months to North Korea to visit with friend and country dictator Kim Jong Un, NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman now says he plans to help train their basketball team for the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics.
Though North Korea still needs to beat China in the Asia qualifying tournament in 2015 to actually get invited to the Olympics, Rodman is already plotting strategy. In addition to his commitment to train them, Rodman is also rumored to be putting together a couple of exhibitions games in North Korea where he plans to bring in former NBA players to face off against them, according to ProBasketballTalk.com. The first game is said to be scheduled for Jan. 8, Kim's birthday.
"I'll tell you guys one: take me seriously," Rodman told reporters during a New York city held press conference on Monday, where he also talked about "basketball diplomacy" and how he was convinced basketball could be a good thing to help close the gap between the reclusive nation and most of the rest of the western universe.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Rodman also made news when he revealed Jong Un has a daughter he has named Ju-ae, all the while insisting that the North Korean leader is a "good dad" and "friend for life."
During his last trip there, Kim and his wife treated Rodman and his sizeable entourage to a lavish, liquor-fueled dinner after they watched basketball together. Rodman, who recently launched his own Vodka brand, again expects the liquor to flow on this trip.
"There should be a lot of Bad Boy vodka there already," he jokingly told the newspaper about his brand."They love whisky, they love tequila, they love vodka, stuff like that, so hoping we're going over to have a nice dinner, sit and talk about communication and sports."
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