Someone has to tell Dennis Rodman that “basketball diplomacy” is not a thing. The former NBA star is in North Korea to visit his “friend for life,” dictator Kim Jong-un—the second trip he’s taken there in the last year. Rodman denied speculation that he was going to ask for the release of Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American Christian missionary who was detained and jailed last year. “I’ve come out here to see my friend,” he said. “I want to talk about basketball.” North Korea recently withdrew an invitation to U.S. diplomat Robert King, who was going to ask for Bae’s release, due to anger over U.S.–South Korean military drills last month.
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