It may be the most unlikely pairing in the history of sports or diplomacy. According to this news item from China’s state-run Xinhua, witnesses report seeing former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman taking in a basketball game with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. And according to the report, the two communicated jovially without an interpreter.
The Xinhua news report begins this way:
PYONGYANG: On Thursday, Kim Jong-un, the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, sat with former NBA star Dennis Rodman, and watched a basketball game between players from the U.S. and DPRK, witnesses said.
With 12 players from North Korea and four from the U.S. team The Harlem Globetrotters divided into two teams, the game ended in a 110-110 draw.
Rodman said after the game, “although relations between the two countries are regrettable, I am a friend of Marshal Kim Jong-un and the people of the DPRK.”
He reportedly thanked the DPRK for inviting he and the other U.S. players, noting that the game reflected friendship between the two peoples.
During the match, Rodman, who wore dark glasses and a hat, sat to the left of Kim Jong-un. Without translators, the two spoke directly to one another and laughed, witnesses said.
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