2017 has become the year when absurd jokes appear to be coming true. When Dennis Rodman made his first trip to North Korea back in 2013, it was amusing to imagine the eccentric NBA legend acting as the United States’ de facto ambassador to the country. [...] In an interview with Good Morning Britain, the five-time NBA champion offered to “straighten things out” between Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, emphasizing that he considers both men friends.

The U.S. Embassy, in partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the Ethiopian Basketball Federation, is hosting a two-day basketball clinic for Ethiopian youths from July 29-30, 2017 at the Ras-Hailu Gym in Addis Ababa.

It was a regular Friday in the U.S. but the most special day of the year in China and other Asian communities. The Cleveland Cavaliers paid tribute to their Chinese fans by celebrating Chinese New Year, educating and engaging local fans with Chinese culture. This was the second annual celebration for the Cavs and the NBA's sixth year with official organized events.

Barely a month after power forward Palpreet Singh Brar was picked up for the NBA Developmental League in the players draft for the Long Island Nets, the premier basketball league in the world has decided to launch an elite academy in India. [...] The 24 candidates will be closely working with coaches from coaches from the NBA, with an Indian coach standing alongside him.

The Phoenix Suns will play successive games against the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs in Mexico City on Jan. 12 and 14, marking an expansion of the NBA’s effort to spread the game globally. The games, between three teams in states neighboring Mexico, will mark the first time the NBA has played more than one contest during the same season in the neighboring country since the league began playing there 25 years ago. 

The Shaq show came to Havana on Sunday as NBA great Shaquille O'Neal put on a basketball clinic for local youngsters, becoming the latest emissary for American outreach to the people of Cuba. The 2016 Hall of Fame inductee and four-time NBA champion led star-struck kids in layup drills and coached scrimmages while onlookers cheered from the sidelines, part of a U.S. State Department-sponsored visit to foster people-to-people exchanges with Cuban citizens.