Former Bulls bad boy Dennis Rodman believes he’s turned from playmaker to peacemaker.
Rodman told TMZ that he played a big role in getting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet with President Donald Trump to discuss the country’s nuclear weapons. And he’d like some credit for it.
Rodman gave Kim a copy of Trump’s best-seller “The Art of the Deal” when he visited North Korea last year, according to TMZ. After that visit, Rodman described Kim, who he often refers to as his “good friend,” as having a “change of heart” when it comes to his opinions on Trump and the American people.
“I think he didn’t realize who Donald Trump was at that time,” Rodman told TMZ.
Rodman said he doesn’t want to take all the credit, but he believes he played an integral part in getting Kim and Trump to meet up.
“I don’t want to sit here and say ‘I did this. I did that.’ No, that’s not my intention,” Rodman said. “My intention was to go there and try to people a sports ambassador to North Korea so people understand how people are in North Korea.
“I’m not the president, I’m just one person,” Rodman said. “I’m just happy things are going well.”
This all comes after the leaders of North and South Korea met last week and pledged to end hostilities and work toward the “denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula.
Rodman, who was a contestant on Donald Trump’s reality TV show “Celebrity Apprentice,” is one of the only Americans to have met with the North Korean leader.
During his 14 seasons with five teams in the NBA, Rodman won five championships and was named an All-Star twice. Nicknamed “The Worm” for his defensive and rebounding abilities, Rodman was a member of the Bulls from 1995 to 1998.
