NBA star Dennis Rodman has plans to travel to Russia to aid in the release of Brittney Griner. According to Dennis Rodman via the New York Post;
“I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,” Rodman, 61, told NBC News in Washington DC on Saturday. “I’m trying to go this week.”
The basketball Hall of Famer added that he knows Russian President Vladimir Putin “too well.”
It wasn’t immediately clear what “permission” Rodman received, but an approved visa is required to enter Russia.
The US State Department currently has a travel advisory that warns Americans not to travel to the country.
“Do not travel to Russia,” the warning reads, listing a number of reasons — including the Ukraine invasion, the “potential for harassment against US citizens” and “the singling out of US citizens in Russia by Russian government security officials including for detention.”
Rodman, who once referred to Putin as “cool” in a 2014 interview, is no stranger to involving himself in informal diplomacy with international leaders.
The ex-Chicago Bulls star struck up an unlikely friendship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and has visited the country multiple times.
He previously took credit for aiding in the 2014 release of American man Kenneth Bae who had been imprisoned in North Korea for more than two and a half years for unspecified acts.
Rodman said he had written to Kim Jong Un to urge him to release Bae, TMZ reported at the time.
His attempt to get involved in Griner’s ordeal comes after the WNBA star’s lawyers said last week they had filed an appeal over her prison sentence.
The Worm isn’t lying. He has good relationships with multiple dictators around the world, so he might have a better chance at getting Griner out of prison than Biden at this point. It can’t hurt to give him a shot at trying to make something happen. Griner has nothing to lose.
Flip to the next page for more on Rodman speaking about heading to Russia and how the US Government doesn’t want him to get involved.
