In a bizarre turn of events, five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman has formed a friendship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Last week Rodman traveled to North Korea as a guest with the Harlem Globetrotters where he spent several hours over the course of two days with Kim Jong Un, who happens to be an avid basketball fan.
Rodman returned to the United States Sunday and sat down for an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "Meet the Press."
Throughout the conversation, Rodman praised the young leader calling Kim a "great guy." He even went as far as to deliver a message to President Barack Obama on his behalf:
"He wants Obama to do one thing: Call him. He said, 'If you can, Dennis, I don't want [to] do war. I don't want to do war.' He said that to me."
Rodman portrayed Kim as misguided young man with good intentions who's desperate to remove the shadow casted upon him by his late father's legacy, Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011.
"He's not his dad. Not his grandpa. He's 28 years old," Rodman said, adding that even though he doesn't condone Kim's litany of abuses - which include the mass imprisonment of some 200,000 citizens in forced labor camps and widespread, government-induced food shortages - he's not passing judgment. After all, didn't Bill Clinton sleep with his "secretary"?
Throughout the remainder of the interview, Rodman appeared to focus more on the common ground he shares with the dictator and the president of the United States.
"He loves basketball. And I said the same thing, I said, 'Obama loves basketball.' Let's start there," Rodman told Stephanopoulos.
Basketball is popular in North Korea, and Thursday's exhibition game with two Americans playing on each team alongside North Koreans ended in a 110-110 tie. Following the game Kim threw an ''epic feast'' for the group, plying them with food and drinks and making round after round of toasts.
Rodman is thought to be the first American to meet with Kim since he took power after his father, Kim Jong Il died.
