WBNA Star Brittney Griner Is Being Held by Russians on Drug Charges
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Brittany Griner, the star center openly gay NWBA player has been detained by Russian customs officials on drug charges and is now a political volley ball in the hostility between Russia and the United States over the escalating war in Ukraine.
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According to the New York Times:
Russian customs officials said a U.S. basketball player had vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. A Russian news agency identified the player as Griner.
Russia said on Saturday that it had detained an American basketball player — later identified as Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner — on drug charges, entangling a U.S. citizen’s fate in the dangerous confrontation between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
The Russian Federal Customs Service said its officials had detained the player after finding vape cartridges that contained hashish oil in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow, and it released a video of a traveler going through airport security who appeared to be Griner.
In a statement, Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, did not dispute reports of her client’s detention. “We are aware of the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia and are in close contact with her, her legal representation in Russia, her family, her teams and the W.N.B.A. and N.B.A.,” she said.
The State Department, which for weeks had warned Americans against traveling to Russia, released an updated advisory urging U.S. citizens to leave the country immediately, citing the invasion in Ukraine, the “potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials” and the limited ability of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to assist American citizens in the country.
Griner is a team member on the Phoenix Mercury. She has played in Russia for the last seven years in the off season during the winter, earning over $1 million per season. She’s won Olympic gold medals with the U.S., a WNBA championship with the Mercury and a national championship at Baylor. Griner is also a seven-time All-Star.
“Brittney Griner has the WNBA’s full support and our main priority is her swift and safe return to the United States,” the league said in a statement. She has yet to speak on the ordeal. Several celebrities have shared their support of Griner on social media.
Brittney Griner has been detained for 3 weeks and we’re just hearing about it?
— Damien Woody (@damienwoody) March 5, 2022
Her arrest has also reignited discussions on the imbalance of salary between men and women in professional basketball.
Brittney Griner is among the biggest names in women’s sports and she still has to compete in China and Russia in the off-season because the WNBA pays her just $227k annually, around the league max. She makes many times her WNBA salary playing overseas.
Min. NBA salary is $925k.
— Charlotte Clymer ????️⚧️???????? (@cmclymer) March 5, 2022
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