Brittney Griner has finally broken her silence. The WNBA star appeared before the press this Thursday for the first time since she was released by the Russian government in December after a prisoner exchange. Griner was part of a tense confrontation between Washington and Moscow against the backdrop of the conflict with Ukraine. The athlete has avoided political issues this morning, but she has implied that she understood the lesson. “I will not play outside my country again… unless it is to represent the United States in an Olympic Games,” said Griner, who was arrested in February 2022 at the airport in the Russian capital for carrying cartridges in her luggage. of cannabis oil. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
It was an emotional press conference for the Phoenix Mercury player, with whom she signed a one-year contract to continue playing basketball. Currently, she is preparing her return to the courts, scheduled for May 19. “I’m liking it a lot again, but at the beginning there was a point where I wondered if I should go so fast with this,” confessed the player, who has been a two-time defender of the year in the league and selected seven times. to the All Star. The athlete was detained in Russia, where she had been playing since 2015 in the local league while her team in Arizona was resting between seasons. This is common among WNBA basketball players to earn extra income.
More than a hundred journalists came to hear her in Phoenix. “This is very different than a basketball press conference. There are SO MANY media today…” she joked. The reporters wanted to know how she coped with the 10 months that she was behind bars. She explained that what helped her the most in her confinement were her family photos. “Just seeing her faces, that was enough for me,” she said, though she acknowledged that there were many times when it was hard for her to find faith and hope. “The moments when you want to give up… that was when she would see those pictures… That was enough to remind you what you were waiting for. You expected to be back with your family, with your loved ones in a safe place for you, ”she stated with a broken voice.
Griner returned to the United States on December 8 after the Joe Biden government exchanged her for the arms dealer, Viktor Bout, who is called the merchant of death, who was in the hands of US authorities. The change took place on the territory of the United Arab Emirates and required several months of negotiation between US and Russian diplomats. This Thursday, she once again thanked Joe Biden for his efforts so that he could return to his country.
“Difficult times are not new to me,” Griner said at another time where he had to control himself not to cry. “You have to search deep within yourself, because in life you will face many difficulties. This was a very big one, but I trusted in my hard work to be able to overcome it,” said the athlete, who was sheltered at the event by employees of the Mercury organization, his wife, Cherelle Griner and the governor of Arizona, Katie Hobbs.
Phoenix has shown him a lot of affection this Thursday. After his arrival in the United States, Griner had to undergo a transition period in a hospital inside a military base in San Antonio, Texas. During his week-long stay there, he took up basketball again. He began shooting on an outdoor court on the premises. “I felt like I was 16 again, although my heels didn’t like it, it was good,” recalled the player, who assures that he used low-top shoes, since he did not have the professional ones on hand.
After that, Griner kept a low profile during the period when he was getting used to life in the wild again. He appeared at the Super Bowl, which was played in Arizona, a golf tournament in the same state and a Martin Luther King memorial event. This Thursday, Brittney Griner also recovered her public voice.
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