Video: Basketball star Dennis Rodman: Kim Jong-un is 'awesome' Ex-NBA player Rodman spent time with Kim Jong-un during his visit to North Korea this week, watching the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team play, and later drinking and dining on sushi with him. The encounter makes Rodman the most high-profile American to meet Kim Jong-un since the young North Korean leader took power in December 2011, and takes place against a backdrop of tension between Washington and Pyongyang. Speaking to media at Pyongyang's Sunan airport before he left, Rodman said of the North Korean leader that it was "amazing how he was so honest." "Guess what, his grandfather, and his father were great leaders, and he's such a proud man," he added. They were accompanied by a video crew from the New York-based VICE media company who are shooting an episode on North Korea for a new weekly television series.