Griner thanks supporters, says she will play in upcoming WNBA season December 16, 2022 By Griffin Coop Brittney Griner, the star basketball player recently released from Russian detention, said she’ll be back on the court soon. Griner released a statement Friday to thank supporters and announce her intention to play in the upcoming WNBA season. The basketball star arrived home this month after a nightmarish 10 months. Detained in Russia since February for possession of a vape cartridge containing a small amount of hashish oil, Griner was convicted in Russian court and sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony. On December 8, President Joe Biden secured her release in a prisoner trade for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. The deal elicited gripes from critics who said the trade wasn’t a fair one, and who noted that American Paul Whelan remains imprisoned in Russia, where he’s been since December of 2018. Cherelle Griner, Brittney Griner’s wife, is a Little Rock native who’s been vocal about securing her wife’s release. Here is Griner’s statement: 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. I am grateful to each person who advocated for me, especially my wife, Cherelle Griner, my family, Lindsay Kagawa Colas and Casey Wasserman and my whole team at Wasserman, Vince Kozar and the Phoenix Mercury, the players of the WNBA, my entire WNBA family, Terri Jackson and the WNBPA staff, my Russian legal team Maria Blagovolina and Alex Boykov, the leaders, activists, and grassroots organizations, Gov. Richardson and Mickey Bergman of the Richardson Center, the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, Roger Carstens and the SPEHA team, and of course, a special thank you to President Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary Blinken and the entire Biden-Harris Administration. President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too. 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. As I transition home to enjoy the holidays with my family, I want to acknowledge and thank the entire PISA staff and medical team at the San Antonio Fort Sam Houston Base. I appreciate the time and care to make sure I was okay and equipped with the tools for this new journey. 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. Love always, BG #42
