Dennis Rodman is inviting Kanye West with him on his next trip to North Korea — and it turns out, the NBA legend has big plans to bring his fans with him too. 
 
 “You know, I don’t do Instagram and stuff like that. My kids do it. I just know my agent called me and said, ‘Dennis, Kanye West gave you a good shoutout’ I said, ‘OK, great,’” he recalled exclusively to Us Weekly‘s Jennifer Peros on Tuesday, July 17, referring to the rapper recently calling Rodman one of his “biggest inspirations” on Twitter. “I think he’s a big Chicago Bulls fan. I think that he respects me as far as understanding my views. And Kanye, he’s doing amazing work around the world so I respect him too. So hopefully one day we’ll get together and collaborate on certain things. Guess what, I’ll take Kanye West to North Korea with me.” 
 
 Rodman continued: “Matter of fact, I’m going to invite him next time I go to North Korea. If the door’s open in September, I will invite Kanye West with me to go to North Korea with me … If he wants to make an album about that he’ll be there for like six to seven days, and he’ll see what’s going on. Now, go make a song about this. So here you go.” 
 
 Rodman has visited North Korea in the past and developed an unlikely friendship with leader Kim Jong Un. The former power forward revealed how his Houston-based ticket Investment Company, www.anytickets.com, can provide other people with the opportunity to visit the East Asian country. 
 
 “Anytickets it’s more like a experience as far as like when you buy the ticket for any event around the world. Say concerts, or basketball, entertainment, anything in the world. You’re not just getting a ticket, you’re getting experience as far as if you want to meet Jerry Jones, OK great you get to spend time with Jerry Jones and have lunch with him so basically that’s what you like. That’s what we sell the tickets for. That’s what you want, we’ll do anything for you. If we can provide it, we can provide it for you,” Rodman explained. “Put it like this, if the opportunity comes, Anytickets.com will do one thing, if the price is right, if you want to go North Korea with me, we can do those places with Dennis Rodman any time you want.” 
 
 Most recently, the former basketball pro traveled to Singapore in June to witness Kim Jong-Un and President Donald Trump’s historic summit. He got emotional discussing the meeting on CNN. 
 
 “When I started this whole venture about going to North Korea, it wasn’t about me, about trying to be more famous. No, I just wanted to have a good time with the family, that was it,” Rodman told Us. “People start turning on me, then all of a sudden now when they had the meeting, all of a sudden now people say, ‘Oh it took you five years for our President to prove the fact that I was right. I said ‘OK, whatever.’ If anything happens with this whole thing, with North Korea and America, it’s amazing how the fact that I didn’t do it, I just brought the guys together.” 
 
 Rodman expanded on his relationship with Kim Jong Un: “He respects me. That’s one thing that we have in common. We respect each other, and I think the most important part about that, when he saw respect in me when I did that thing, the basketball game on his birthday. That’s when he said, ‘Dennis, whatever you want. No one’s ever done this for me and my family. No one’s ever sit there and kept their word.’ And I tell people, it’s all about trust with them. Trust.” 
 
 Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox! ||||| Former NBA player Dennis Rodman defended his trip with other basketball players to North Korea in an explosive interview Tuesday, saying he hopes his presence will open doors. 
 
 “One day, one day this door is going to open because of these 10 guys here,” an emotional Rodman told CNN’s “New Day” during a satellite interview from Pyongyang, North Korea. 
 
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 Rodman, along with other former NBA players, arrived in North Korea to play an exhibition basketball game against a North Korean team Wednesday. 
 
 Rodman called the trip a “great idea for the world.” 
 
 (PHOTOS: Dennis Rodman, Kim Jong Un in North Korea) 
 
 However, following questioning from CNN’s Chris Cuomo about the political criticisms of the trip, the NBA Hall of Famer exploded. Cuomo asked Rodman whether he will use the opportunity to speak about Kenneth Bae, an American citizen who has been held in North Korea. 
 
 “Do you understand what he did?” Rodman said. “You tell me! You tell me! Why is he held captive?” 
 
 “I don’t give a rat’s a— what you think,” Rodman said, repeatedly yelling that the men — who joined him on set for the interview — left their families behind for the trip and are facing criticism as well. 
 
 (PHOTOS: Kenneth Bae’s life and imprisonment) 
 
 Remaining calm was former NBA player Charles Smith, who echoing Rodman’s justification for “basketball diplomacy” said it wasn’t about politics and walked back Rodman’s relationship with Kim Jong Un, who Rodman has previously described as a “friend for life.” 
 
 “We’re playing semantics on the word ‘friend.’ We all know that when you use the term friend, it’s an endearing term. It’s an associate,” Smith said. 
 
 Smith added they are not scheduled to meet with Kim Jong Un and said the date of the game, reported as being for Kim Jong Un’s birthday, was arranged that way. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Stern, retired players hit Rodman trip) 
 
 Smith said they were apologetic for the “kind of storm that has been created” for their presence in the country, but said it had nothing to do with politics and that Cuomo’s questions about politics were “baiting” Rodman to get emotional. 
 
 “We’ve said numerous times that we’re not here for any political aspects. We’re not here to talk politics. So outside of that, any questions that come back through that is baiting to get us into politics,” Smith said. 
 
 Smith said they had no idea that the negative press “would extend this far.” 
 
 “We’re apologetic we did not know that it was going to take this type of negative spin on what we were doing because we’re not politicians, we’re not ambassadors,” Smith said. ||||| Beijing (CNN) -- Eccentric basketball star Dennis Rodman and several other former NBA players have arrived in North Korea to take part in a controversial basketball game on the birthday of Kim Jong-Un, the country's young, unpredictable leader. 
 
 The friendly contest is planned for Wednesday, when Kim is believed to turn 31, and features a number of NBA old-timers. 
 
 It takes place just weeks after North Korea shocked the world by announcing the purge and execution of Kim's once-powerful uncle. 
 
 Darren Prince, Rodman's agent for 16 years, told CNN on Sunday that Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson, Vin Baker, Craig Hodges, Doug Christie, and Charles D. Smith would play against the North Korean Senior National Team. 
 
 As they waited at Beijing airport for their flight on North Korean carrier Air Koryo, Rodman and his teammates told CNN that the main purpose of the trip was sport. 
 
 Rodman said it was not his job to address concerns about the repressive state and lobby for the release of detained U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae. 
 
 "I'm going to try and interact with him (Kim Jong Un) on that point of love for sports. He loves sports. I like the guy, and he's an awesome guy to me," Rodman said. "One thing is about showing people we can actually get along. Let's get along as human beings, not politicians." 
 
 It will be Rodman's fourth trip to the secretive and isolated nation, part of a project he has described as "basketball diplomacy." 
 
 But the U.S. State Department says that it has nothing to do with Rodman's visits to North Korea and that attention should be focused on the brutality of Kim's regime. 
 
 'Friend for life' 
 
 Rodman, 52, struck up an unlikely friendship with Kim when he traveled to North Korea for the first time in February, bringing a team of Harlem Globetrotters for an exhibition game watched by Kim, who is a basketball fan. 
 
 Kim later met and dined with the flamboyant basketball star, and Rodman told his host he "had a friend for life," shrugging off international condemnation of the country's human rights record. 
 
 However, on his last trip, which took place last month less than a week after North Korea announced the execution of Kim's uncle and top aide, Jang Song Thaek, Rodman didn't get to meet Kim. 
 
 The international outcry over the killing of Jang prompted Paddy Power, the online betting company that had supported Rodman's project, to withdraw its association with the event. 
 
 But Rodman has pressed on with the plan. 
 
 "I'm looking forward to playing and putting on a show in North Korea. This is strictly about the game and for the love of basketball," Rodman teammate Vin Baker told CNN at the departure gate, where the players posed for photos with fellow travelers. 
 
 Three additional former NBA players will be added to the team in coming days and will be traveling independently to Pyongyang with their assistants, Rodman's agent said Sunday. 
 
 North Korea: Reality vs. the world according to Dennis Rodman 
 
 'Publicity stunt' 
 
 Rodman met and coached the North Korean team on his most recent trip. But Cho Sung-Won, a South Korean basketball player who played against North Korea in 1999, said Rodman should not underestimate the side: 
 
 "The North Koreans were quite strong, well-built and tall as well," he said. "They were very determined not to lose against South Korea. It was a friendly match, but I was a bit intimidated." 
 
 Cho was skeptical about Rodman's diplomatic aims. 
 
 "I don't know Dennis Rodman personally, but he is quite peculiar and does unexpected things," he said. 
 
 "I think he went to North Korea as a publicity stunt," Cho said. "On the other hand, North Korea plays some high-quality basketball, so they could learn from his experience." 
 
 South Korean table tennis player Hyun Jung-Wha, who was part of a joint Korean team that took part in the 1991 World Championships, praised Rodman's bid to break the ice with Pyongyang. 
 
 "What Dennis Rodman is doing now is personal, but I think he's brave for doing it," she told CNN. 
 
 "I believe sports definitely can help diplomacy," Hyun said. "Sportsmanship is pure, and I think diplomatic results can come out through sports." 
 
 But the U.S. government appears to be unconvinced. 
 
 "I know it's amusing or maybe interesting to talk about Dennis Rodman, but I actually think the focus really should be on the brutality of the North Korean regime he's going to meet with," Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, said last month at the time of Rodman's previous trip. 
 
 Opinion: Dennis Rodman smart on North Korea? 
 
 CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton, Steve Forrest and Charlie Miller contributed to this report.
– Dennis Rodman wants to bring Kanye West on his next trip to North Korea. West is "doing amazing work around the world" and is welcome to join Rodman's sixth trip "if the door's open in September," the former NBA star and friend of Kim Jong Un told US Weekly on Tuesday. "If he wants to make an album about that, he'll be there for like six to seven days, and he'll see what's going on," Rodman added. It's unclear if West is on board, though he last week referred to Rodman as "one of my biggest inspirations" who's "always breaking barriers with independent thought," per Sky News. In response, Rodman proposed the pair collaborate on a track "about world peace, about leaders of love."