If you were born after the year 1990, it's possible that you know nothing of Dennis Rodman's basketball career. The NBA star had an incredible career, winning five championship rings during his 14 years in the league. He was an All-Star on two occasions and was part of the legendary Chicago Bulls of the mid to late nineties that featured Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. To put it mildly, he had a bloody great career.
Ever since his time as a professional sportsman ended however, he has become notorious for non-basketball reasons. So many reasons.
Aside from his legal troubles and alcohol issues, appearing on multiple reality television shows (including Celebrity Big Brother), taking part in Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling event on TV (and winning it, of course) ten years ago, he has become notorious for his involvement in political issues.
Since 2013 "Rodzilla" has visited North Korea on several occasions, as the country's leader Kim Jong-un is believed to be a huge fan of basketball. Rodman considers the North Korean to be a "friend for life".
In 2016 Rodman also revealed that he is a Donald Trump supporter, so it should surprise no one that the former NBA champion turned up at the Singapore summit where Kim and the US President have been trying to come to an agreement over the denuclearisation of the Asian peninsula.
Rodman does not just "show up" at anything, however. He likes to make his presence well-known, and this time was no different, turning up in a t-shirt promoting a cannabis cryptocurrency and a MAGA hat. We're not sure what a cannabis cryptocurrency is, but naturally enough Twitter ate the whole thing up.
I’m not sure it’s possible to capture an entire era in one image, but Dennis Rodman running a cryptocurrency grift on live TV from the North Korea summit while wearing a MAGA is a serious nominee https://t.co/Qs7aQ4w6n8
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) June 12, 2018
Dennis Rodman arrives in Singapore for the Trump-Kim summit in a T-shirt promoting a cannabis cryptocurrency.
We’ve reached peak 2018. pic.twitter.com/W6UcbF5BPj— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) June 11, 2018
Not everyone was happy with Rodman getting so much air time around the event.
I've been a proud CNN defender for a long time- in full disclosure I was a CNN intern in 1994 and had an amazing time... CNN giving 23 minutes to the ridiculousness of Dennis Rodman makes it very hard to be a CNN defender tonight
— Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) June 12, 2018
Rodman has received criticism for his support of both Kim and Trump over the years, claiming he has even gotten death threats. Nonetheless the coming together of the two leaders is somewhat of a vindication for the former basketball player. In 2013 Rodman tried to convince then-US President Barack Obama to reach out to the North Korean leadership, but says he was "blown off" by the administration.
Bizarrely Trump ruled out ever meeting with the North Korean leader in a tweet sent two years before he even won the presidency.
Crazy Dennis Rodman is saying I wanted to go to North Korea with him. Never discussed, no interest, last place on Earth I want to go to.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2014
In an interview with CNN on Monday, Rodman got emotional, saying that it was an "amazing" thing that happened while trying to hold back the tears.
The hate mail is slowly replaced with a deluge of memes, in another very 2018 development.
Dennis Rodman is saving the world. pic.twitter.com/dB1a5J5ALv
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) June 12, 2018
-Donald Trump is a WWE Hall of Famer
-He just described the North Korea situation in the past as “War Games”
-Dennis Rodman was an honorary member of the nWoPlease don’t tell me Wrestling is fake. @EBischoff really created the New World Order pic.twitter.com/zWnjjCXs5u
— Tony Mellace (@TonyMellace7) June 12, 2018
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