Dennis Rodman is taking credit for helping secure the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea — a claim being denied by the tragic college student's parents and the State Department.
"I was just so happy to see the kid released … Later that day, that's when we found out he was ill, no one knew that. We jumped up and down ... Some good things came of this trip," Rodman told "Good Morning America" on Friday.
The NBA Hall of Famer added he was sending "prayers and love" to Warmbier's family.
Rodman, a self-described "friend for life" of North Korea strongman Kim Jong Un, arrived in Pyongyang on June 12, the same day Warmbier was released from prison in a coma-like state and had to be carried onto a jet back to the U.S.
Warmbier's release came 15 months after he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for stealing a propaganda poster.
He died June 19 and some believe that brutal torture behind bars is to blame, although North Korea denies it and said it released him for "humanitarian reasons."
Rodman's agent Chris Volo backed up Rodman's claim that he helped get Warmbier out of North Korea.
"I asked on behalf of Dennis for his release three times … I know being there had something to do with it," Volo told ABC News on Friday.
"Because when I was organizing the trip, and I meet with the delegates here, you know, I addressed Otto Warmbier. And I said to them, 'we would need his, you know, a release, some type of good faith, if we're ever going to do some type of future sports relations ... They said they understood."
Both the State Department and Warmbier's father, Fred, deny Rodman played a role in the release. Warmbier is said to have suffered a severe neurological injury.
Rodman has been heavily criticized for visiting the brutal regime which has continuously threatened the U.S. with nuclear weapons.
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