Kerry on Rodman - the Secretary of State spoke out about the basketball player's recent trip to North Korea on Tuesday.

Newly appointed Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with NBC News earlier today where he responded to Dennis Rodman's recent visit to Pyongyang.

"Dennis Rodman was a great basketball player," Kerry said in the interview. "And as a diplomat, he is a great basketball player. And that's where we'll leave it."

Rodman visited North Korea last week where he spent some quality time with leader Kim Jong Un.

The basketball Hall of Famer has said the dictator is an "awesome guy" and called him "a friend for life."

Before leaving the country, Rodman was quoted as saying of Kim, "Guess what? I love him."

The White House was not enthused by the eccentric basketball star's trip to the dictator-led country.

A statement called the North Korean visit a "celebrity sporting event" for a repressive regime. It went on to suggest North Korea focus on the well-being of its own people, "who have been starved, imprisoned and denied their human rights."

Dennis Rodman has furthermore suggested President Obama do a little 'basketball diplomacy' of his own, and suggested that he call up the North Korean leader to talk hoops, suggesting it might calm the relationship between the two nations.

"He loves basketball," Rodman told George Stephanopoulos of ABC after his return to the US. "I said Obama loves basketball. Let's start there."

Sunday night Rodman was escorted out of Manhattan's Time Hotel after he allegedly spent hours at the restaurant bar loudly sharing with anyone within earshot that Kim Jong Un is a really great guy.

One witness said, "Dennis was making a total jerk of himself. He wouldn't leave, and he wouldn't let anyone talk to him about shutting up, or what an oppressive country North Korea is. Eventually he had to leave the bar because the bartender was starting to get [bleep]ed-off."

Kerry spoke in Doha, Qatar, for the interview which will air Tuesday night on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports."