After his shocking live cam outburst during an interview with CNN about his North Korean trip, retired NBA player Dennis Rodman has apologized for his action which he says happened only because he was drunk. The seven-time rebounding champion also said sorry for his comments about Kenneth Bae, the American sentenced to forced labor for 15 years in Pyongyang.

Through his publicist Jules Feiler, he said:

"I want to apologize. I take full responsibility for my actions. It had been a very stressful day. Some of my teammates were leaving because of pressure from their families and business associates. My dreams of basketball diplomacy was quickly falling apart. I had been drinking. It's not an excuse but by the time the interview happened I was upset. I was overwhelmed. It's not an excuse, it's just the truth. I want to first apologize to Kenneth Bae's family. I want to apologize to my teammates and my management team. I also want to apologize to Chris Cuomo. I embarrassed a lot of people. I'm very sorry. At this point I should know better than to make political statements. I'm truly sorry."

During the interview with CNN, Rodman hit out at Bae.

"Do you understand what he did in this country?" Rodman asked interviewer Cuomo. "No, no, no, you tell me, you tell me. Why is he held captive here in this country, why?"

Rodman got the ire of Bae's family with these comments.

"He was in a position to do some good and to help advocate for Kenneth," Bae's sister, Terri Chung, said Tuesday.

"He refused to do so. But then instead he has chosen to hurl these outrageous accusations against Kenneth. He clearly doesn't know anything about Kenneth, about his case. And so we were appalled by that."

Meanwhile, the five-time champion revealed that the retired NBA players he invited to play with him against the North Korea National team have started flying back to the US.

"Some of my teammates were leaving because of pressure from their families and business associates."

He added that his "basketball diplomacy" is starting to fall apart.