Rodman holds basketball tryouts in Pyongyang

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman held tryouts on Friday for a Democratic People's Republic of Korea team that will reportedly face a dozen National Basketball Association veterans in an exhibition game on leader Kim Jong-un's birthday next month, though he hasn't convinced all the US players that it's safe to come to Pyongyang.

The flamboyant Hall of Famer said plans for the Jan 8 game are moving ahead but that some of the 12 US basketball players he wants are afraid to come.

"You know, they're still afraid to come here, but I'm just telling them, you know, don't be afraid, man, it's all love, it's all love here," Rodman said after the tryouts at the Pyongyang Indoor Gymnasium.

"I understand what's going on with the political stuff, and I say, I don't go into that venture, I'm just doing one thing for these kids here, and for this country, and for my country, and for the world pretty much."

Rodman, who arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday, said he expects to announce the roster soon.

He added that he is planning another game in June.

Rodman, wearing a pink button-down shirt and puffing on a cigar, watched as a couple of dozen local players took to the basketball court for the tryouts.

After the session, he told the players that each of the 12 he chooses will get two new pairs of tennis shoes.

When asked why he liked basketball, DPRK player Kim Un-chol told Rodman he started playing the game because he was impressed by it on TV.

He also said he wants to be good at the sport because it is a favorite of leader Kim and also was for his late father, Kim Jong-il.

Rodman asked all the players if they felt the same way. They nodded in unison.

"I want you guys to do one thing for your leader," Rodman then told them.

"It's his birthday. It's a very special, special day for the country."

Rodman and Kim have struck up an unlikely friendship since he traveled to the DPRK for the first time in February with the Harlem Globetrotters for an HBO series produced by New York-based VICE television.

He remains the highest-profile US citizen to meet Kim since he became the DPRK's top leader in 2011.

Known as much for his piercings, tattoos and bad behavior as he was for basketball, Rodman has mostly avoided politics in his dealings with the DPRK.

On Friday, he stressed that he hopes the game will be friendly, without political overtones.

He said the former NBA players will take on the DPRK team in the first half, but the teams will be mixed for the second half.

"It's not about win or loss. It's about one thing - unite two countries," Rodman said.

The Associated Press

(China Daily 12/21/2013 page6)