Kim Jong-Il and his love for Basketball

Ri Myung Hun, 7 feet 8.5 inches. No joke.

I stumbled on this article from 2006, from San Diego's Union Tribe, named "The Oddest Fan".

The infamous reputation of Kim Jong-Il has been around for years. But why is it that all modern dictators are so comically evil in that they have really unexpected hobbies, and always take those to the extreme?

Don't know what I'm talking about? Here's one thing Kim Jong-Il absolutely loves : Basketball. His all-time hero is Michael Jordan, and he built a damn museum for his signball he got from the US. Like how US played "ping-pong policy" against China to ease the tension between the two nations years ago, apparently the term "basketball-policy" has been coined as well for North Korea.

Here's one from the article for your taste, check out the article here.

Chinese media have reported that the country even developed its own scoring system, with three points for a dunk, four points for a three-pointer that does not touch the rim and eight points for a basket scored in the final three seconds. Miss a free throw, and it's minus one.

Oh, and did you also know that the first Asian to almost play in the NBA was North Korean? His name is Ri Myung Hun, and he was 7 feet 8.5 inches tall. He was planning to play in the NBA during the 1990s until the State Department shot it down. Take that, Yao Ming.