John McCain touched many lives during his decades-long run of public service.
Even, eventually, a Chicago Bull's.
One day after McCain passed away because of a rare brain cancer, Lauri Markkanen thanked the longtime Senator from Arizona for his help securing a student visa for his lone season at the University of Arizona.
Markkanen posted the following to his Twitter account: "Rest In peace @senJohnMcCain, I will forever be grateful for you helping a kid from Finland get a visa to live out my dream of playing basketball in the States."
Markkanen experienced the visa issues as he prepared to leave Finland in 2016 to begin his freshman season with the Wildcats. Markkanen eventually met McCain during that season and thanked him in person.
In a March 2017 interview with ABC News' Rick Klein and ESPN's Andy Katz, McCain joked that he would take full credit should Arizona win that year's NCAA Tournament.
"We've got a young guy from Finland named Markkanen, as you know, Lauri Markkanen. He is fantastic," McCain said in the interview. "You know how politicians are, they like all credit, you know? He was having trouble with his visa. And they went to our office and we helped out with the visa. So therefore, any success, I will take full credit for. That's classic, huh?"
McCain and the hosts both chuckled at McCain's tongue-in-cheek crack. Then he turned serious as Katz presciently said Markkanen would be a lottery pick should he turn pro after his freshman season.
"He's an amazing talent," McCain said in the interview, who downplayed his efforts. "The young man is a really attractive young man. By the way, he's very happy down at the University of Arizona, which is a little bit different climate than he's got in Helsinki."
In an interview in Finland last summer when news of McCain's illness first broke, Markkanen called McCain a "pleasant man" and expressed his condolences.
