Brittney Griner says she is returning to the basketball court for the upcoming WNBA basketball season. Griner was released from a military base in San Antonio, Texas, where she received treatment after returning to the U.S. from Russia. After leaving the military base, Griner posted a lengthy message on Instagram, which is her first time speaking publicly since returning to the U.S.
The major takeaway from the post is Griner wanted to make it very clear that she intends to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season. During the ten months Griner was in Russia for drug smuggling , the team constantly spoke out about the return of Griner.
In the Instagram post, Griner also spoke about her key to staying strong while in Russia’s custody. She says she had to dig deep to keep her faith. The WNBA player also says the love from so many of her family, friends, and fans kept her going. She gave special thanks to her wife, Cherelle, Phoenix Mercury, her legal aids in Russia, and President Biden and the Biden Administration.
Griner also made a similar vow as her wife previously did to help bring Paul Whelan and all Americans home who are wrongly imprisoned in other countries. Whelan is a former United States Marine arrested in 2018 while in Russia after being accused of being a spy, which both he and the U.S. government deny. Whelan and his family have expressed their disappointment after learning he would not be a part of the prisoner swap that involved Griner’s release in exchange for Russian Arms dealer Viktor Bout.
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