(Pool photo by Evgenia Novozhenina)
Local WNBA players continue to express their support for the fight to get Brittney Griner back to the U.S. following her sentence to 9 years in a Russian prison for drug smuggling.
Griner pleaded for the Russian court’s mercy in her statement at the hearing. “I know that everyone keeps talking about ‘political pawn’ and politics,” Griner said, “but I hope that that is far from this courtroom.” She also apologized and admitted she made a mistake when she packed hash oil cartridges before her flight to Moscow.
The Seattle Storm’s Sue Bird says she, her teammates and their fellow WNBA players continue to be heartbroken for Griner, “continue to believe that this this is unjust. We understand there’s a process. What hasn’t changed is our support for her, our fight to bring her home and our support for the [Biden] Administration to do whatever they can to bring her and the other wrongfully-detained Americans home.”
Breanna Stewart has been Griner’s Russian and Olympic teammate, and she recently told Northwest Newsradio she’s been very worried about her friend, “and hoping that her conditions were good and hoping that she’s going to get out of there as soon as possible.”
The players promise they won’t give up their fight to bring Griner home as the White House and the State Department say Russia is ready to talk about a “substantial offer”, which could include the exchange of the so-called “Merchant of Death”, Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout for Griner and American Paul Whelan. Russia has also added a warning to U.S. officials not to publicize details of their talks.
