Former NBA star Dennis Rodman said he has permission to travel to Russia to try to free basketball player Brittney Griner, The Guardian reports, taken from News.ro.

Earlier this month, Griner was sentenced in Russia to nine years in prison for drug possession. Her lawyers have appealed, and separate discussions about a possible prisoner swap appear to be ongoing.

But Rodman told NBC this weekend that he plans to attend to negotiate the Olympic champion’s release.

“I got permission to go to Russia to help this girl. I’m trying to go this week,” he added, without specifying who gave him the permission to go to Russia, Rodman told NBC News.

61-year-old Rodman called himself a “basketball ambassador.” In 2014, he was invited to Russia by Vladimir Putin and called the country’s president “cool.”

He is also friends with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who is an NBA fan.

In 2014, he suggested that Kenneth Bae, an American prisoner in North Korea, deserved his punishment. However, Bae later said that Rodman’s words played a role in his release.

“I thank Dennis Rodman for being the catalyst for my release. He brought attention to my situation,” Bae told CNN in 2016.

Rodman and Griner have impressive basketball records. Rodman won five NBA titles, including three with Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Griner is considered one of the best basketball players in the world and has won titles in the USA and Russia.