Kim Jong-un and Dennis Rodman's Basketball Bromance Is Strong

Vice
Alexander Abad-Santos 487 Views Feb 28, 2013

Vice has released the first pictures of Dennis Rodman and North Korea's Supreme Leader from their basketball date on Thursday — the first photographic evidence of the couple's apparent life-long friendship. Yes, this is the world in which we live: Carmen Electra's former husband, failed celebrity apprentice, and one of the best defensive players in NBA history is watching the Harlem Globetrotters play against the North Korean national team with Kim Jong-un, the young head of a nation famous for its gulags and, more recently, its increasing threats of nuclear war against the United States. And it all sort of makes sense — sort of — since Kim's father was a giant fan of the Chicago Bulls, where Rodman played from 1995-1998, and there was a #91 jersey floating around the family.

Vice didn't have much to add besides that they were going to party at Kim's house, saving up the juicy stuff for its new HBO series in April. But Rodman reportedly told Kim the following: "You have a friend for life." And Vice founder Shane Smith told the AP that Kim and Rodman chatted in English, but Kim primarily spoke in Korean through a translator. We hope Rodman didn't ask him about setting up a meeting with PSY (who is South Korean):

The date did not stop there. After the game, the two, along with Vice correspondent Ryan Duffy, went back to Kim's pad for drinks and food. More from the AP:

"Dinner was an epic feast. Felt like about 10 courses in total," Duffy said in an email to AP. "I'd say the winners were the smoked turkey and sushi, though we had the Pyongyang cold noodles earlier in the trip and that's been the runaway favorite so far."

Duffy said he invited Kim to visit the United States, a proposal met with hearty laughter from the North Korean leader.

That was met with laughter because, you know, why would you want to visit a country that you've just threatened to drop your atomic weapons on? That would be no fun at all.

(Photograph by Jason Mojica/Vice)

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