Dennis Rodman says he's headed to Russia to seek release of Brittney Griner

“I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl… I’m trying to go this week,” Rodman claims that he knows Russian President Vladimir Putin “too well.”

Dennis Rodman Says He ‘Got Permission’ to Visit Russia to Seek Release of Brittney Griner

The 5-time NBA champion plans on visiting Russia to aid the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges earlier this month.

On Saturday (Aug. 20), former NBA star Dennis Rodman said that he has permission to travel to Russia to seek the release of WNBA star BG.

In a recent interview with NBC News, the NBA Hall of Famer revealed he “got permission” to travel to Russia “sometime this week.”

“I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,” Rodman told NBC while at an event in Washington D.C. “I’m trying to go this week.”

White House officials has yet to make a statement on Rodman’s plans to travel to Russia.

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As previously reported, the U.S. said back in May that Griner had been “wrongfully detained” after Russian officials found vape cartridges containing a small amount of hash oil.

Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison for drug possession earlier this month. Although her lawyers have filed an appeal and there are separate talks about Russian officials undergoing negotiations with the U.S. government regarding a possible prisoner swap, Rodman told NBC News that he still plans to make a trip of his own to negotiate his fellow basketball player’s release.

Back in March, Griner was detained by the Russian Federal Customs Service after they found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow.

Griner was found guilty by a Russian court in August of charges including drug smuggling and possession. She was subsequently sentenced to nine years in prison. Her legal team has since appealed her conviction.