Brittney Griner announces her future basketball plans after Russian imprisonment
Mike Brest
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Brittney Griner intends to rejoin the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season following her return to the United States after her 10-month stint in Russian detention on drug charges. The Biden administration concluded that she was “wrongfully detained.”
Griner, who returned to the U.S. earlier this month after the Biden administration agreed to a prisoner exchange with the Kremlin for a convicted arms dealer, announced her intention to return to basketball in her first social media post since returning on Friday.
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“I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon,” she said, also expressing gratitude toward both the administration and the countless advocates who demanded the president get her back.
“It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn. I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help,” she said.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested last February after bringing vaping cartridges containing minimal amounts of cannabis oil through a Moscow airport. She was sentenced to nine years in prison in August.
The president agreed to swap Griner for Viktor Bout, who was set to be released from a U.S. prison in 2029. Bout, nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” was sentenced in 2012 to a 25-year prison sentence.
Former Marine Paul Whelan was not included in the swap, and the administration later revealed that the Kremlin views his detention differently because he was charged with espionage, though he denies it. He has been held since 2018.
“I would just say that, again, the only deal on the table that was available to us was a deal one-for-one. Griner for Bout. We explored many different alternatives and variations with the Russians in many different formulations,” a U.S. official told the Washington Examiner at the time. “We put forward a variety of different options, and the only one that the Russians were seriously willing to consider was a one-for-one, Griner for Bout.”
The administration has continued talks with Russian officials to get Whelan back.
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Griner said she would use her platform to help the administration bring back others who are wrongfully detained abroad.
“President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too,” she added. “I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you. I also encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home. Every family deserves to be whole.”