Despite doubts from various publications (including this one), Dennis Rodman's exhibition game between former NBA players and North Korean national players will take place as planned on Wednesday Jan. 8, Sports Illustrated reported.

Most of the uncertainty surrounding the game was related to the reported team of "ex-NBA players" Rodman had promised to bring. For some reason -- perhaps to protect them from media scrutiny -- Rodman only released their names on Sunday, just three days before the exhibition.

At the same time, Rodman has used the media on several occasions to bring publicity to his game (though less so lately). Every exchange has gotten increasingly more heated, as media members have prided themselves on asking the NBA Hall of Famer the hard questions he has refused to in his meetings with Kim Jong Un.

The latest interview, between Rodman and CNN, was his most heated, and didn't particularly project the same aura of peace and escape he's painted for tomorrow's game. When CNN's Chris Cuomo asked him if he'd use his position to ask for captured American Kenneth Bae's release, Rodman insinuated that Bae was perhaps more guilty than most Americans realized and that he'd like to "speak on this" (but perhaps didn't want to affect the game or violate a prior agreement with Jong Un).

Sitting with his team of NBA players and pointing his finger at Cuomo, Rodman had to be calmed by former teammate Charles Smith several times. By the end of the Bae exchange, Rodman had cursed at the CNN anchor, lost most of his temper, and promised that "one day, one day the door is going to open."

Without further summation, the roster and some of their statistics:

Charles Smith: SF, 6-foot-10, averaged 21 ppg in his second year with the Clippers on 52 percent shooting.

Craig Hodges: SG, 6-foot-2, part of Michael Jordan's first two championship runs in 1991 and 1992.

Vin Baker: PF/C, 6-foot-11, averaged 21 ppg for two seasons in a row with the Bucks from 1995-1997.

Kenny Anderson: PG, 6-foot-0, averaged 17.6 ppg and 9.4 apg for the Nets in 1994-95.

Doug Christie: SG, 6-foot-6, a key member of the Kings teams (along with Mike Bibby, Vlade Divac, and Chris Webber) that nearly beat the Kobe-Shaq Lakers in the Western Conference finals.

Sleepy Floyd: PG/SG, 6-foot-3, played with Rodman on the 1993-94 Spurs team, averaged nearly 20 ppg in the 1984-85 season.

Clifford Robinson: PF, 6-foot-10, averaged over 20 ppg for three straight seasons for the Portland Trail Blazers. Lost to Michael Jordan's Bulls in the 1992-93 championship.

Could this team have won an NBA title if every player was at or close to their primes? Absolutley, especially if they also had Rodman.