Hoops Star Brittney Griner Was Freed From Russian Prison & Here's What The U.S. Gave Up
After nearly 10 months in Russian custody, American basketball star Brittney Griner is a free woman.
"Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner," U.S. President Joe Biden tweeted Thursday morning. "She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home." The announcement was accompanied by a picture of Biden embracing Cherelle Griner, wife of the WNBA superstar.
Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner.
She is safe.
She is on a plane.
She is on her way home. pic.twitter.com/FmHgfzrcDT
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 8, 2022
Griner, 32, was initially detained at a Moscow-area airport in February after vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were discovered in her luggage. After a prolonged legal proceeding described as a "sham trial" by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Griner ultimately pleaded guilty to possessing the controlled substance — though in accepting responsibility for her carelessness, she maintained that she had no intent to bring the drugs into the country.
Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison in August. The heavy-handed punishment was widely interpreted as being a precursor to orchestrating a prisoner swap during a period of tense geopolitical relations between the U.S. and Russia, ESPN's T.J. Quinn reported this summer. In November, she was transferred to a penal colony.
The U.S. State Department has long considered Griner to be unlawfully detained, with her treatment and eventual prison sentence far exceeding the precedent of similar previous drug charges involving Americans.
Thursday's return of the imprisoned basketball star came at a high price: after months of negotiation between the two countries — centered on not only Griner but also the return of American corporate security executive and former Marine Paul Whelan, who has been jailed on spying charges since 2018 — Biden agreed to commute the 25-year federal prison sentence of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout as part of a one-for-one exchange, according to CBS News.
Bout, dubbed the "Merchant of Death" and purportedly an inspiration for Nicolas Cage's role in the 2005 film Lord of War, has been in U.S. custody since 2008. He was convicted in 2012 for conspiring to kill Americans and aiding a terrorist organization, among other charges, writes CNN's Eliza Mackintosh.
Whelan, who the U.S. has also deemed unlawfully detained, remains in Russian custody.
Speaking from the White House on Thursday, Cherelle Griner declared her family's commitment to seeing Whelan and other wrongfully detained Americans returned
"Today, my family is whole, but as you all are aware, there's so many other families who are not whole. BG's not here to say this but I will gladly say this on BG's behalf and say that BG and I will remain committed to the work of getting every American home, including Paul, whose family is in our hearts today.
"As we celebrate BG being home, we do understand that there are still people out here enduring what I endured the last nine months — of missing tremendously their loved ones."
Brittney Griner’s wife, Cherelle, spoke at the White House following the news of Brittney’s release from Russia. pic.twitter.com/9STErB8ow2
— ESPN (@espn) December 8, 2022
Brittney Griner has been a mainstay in women's basketball since starring at Baylor, where she led the Lady Bears to a national title in 2012. After being selected by the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury first overall in 2013, the Texas product quickly cemented her place as a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate. In 2021, as part of the league's 25th anniversary celebrations, Griner was named one of the top 25 players in WNBA history.
As a member of the U.S. senior women's national team, Griner played a central role in capturing gold medals at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, plus a pair of FIBA World Cup of Basketball gold medals in 2014 and 2018.
Despite a successful stateside career, Griner — like many top WNBA talents — also elected to play abroad during the so-called "overseas season," where well-heeled organizations dole out contracts far more lucrative than the maximum WNBA salaries. Since 2014, Griner had starred for UMMC Ekaterinburg, a Russian powerhouse owned by a mining company with strong ties to the oligarchy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the wake of war and Griner's imprisonment, none of the nearly a dozen WNBA players who joined Russian pro teams during the 2021-22 offseason opted to return.
