BEIJING – Former NBA star Dennis Rodman lashed out Tuesday at suggestions that he is playing a patsy to dictator Kim Jong Un by putting on an exhibition game in one of the world’s most brutal dictatorships.

“You know, you’ve got 10 guys here, 10 guys here, they’ve left their families, they’ve left their damn families, to help this country, as in a sports venture. That’s 10 guys, all these guys here, do anyone understand that?” he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo in an interview.

When asked about whether he would raise the issue of American missionary Kenneth Bae, who has been detained in North Korea since May, Rodman again became agitated.

“Kenneth Bae did one thing. ... If you understand what Kenneth Bae did. Do you understand what he did in this country? No, no, no, you tell me, you tell me. Why is he held captive here in this country, why? ... I would love to speak on this.”

Rodman led 12 U.S. players to Pyongyang on Monday in what he described as an attempt to use basketball to build a bridge between the West and his “friend,” North Korean President Kim Jong Un.

The flamboyant former Chicago Bulls forward has struck up an unlikely friendship with the reportedly basketball-loving leader, who had his powerful uncle Jang Song Thaek executed last month and continues to jail whole families for criticizing his dictatorship.

Rodman said he will play an exhibition game today to mark the birthday of Kim, the third generation of the Kim dynasty that has ruled North Korea since the 1950s.

Rodman insisted Tuesday that his trip can “open the door” to the isolated nation.

On Monday he defended North Korea’s regime.

“Not every country in the world is that bad, especially North Korea,” he said.

© 2014 USA TODAY. All rights reserved.