It’s now been two months since WNBA star Brittney Griner was detained at a Russian airport near Moscow after Russian Federal Customs Service officials said they found vape cartridges containing hashish oil after searching her luggage.
Her case has surprisingly stayed under the radar, with WNBA great Lisa Leslie saying in March that she was told not to make a “big fuss” over Griner’s arrest lest she be used as a pawn by Russia.
“What we were told, and again this is all sort of passed along through hearsay, but what we were told was to not make a big fuss about it so that they could not use her as a pawn, so to speak, in this situation in the war,” Leslie said. “So, to make it like it’s not that important or don’t make it where we’re like, ‘Free Brittney’ and we start this campaign, and then it becomes something that they can use.”
But as WNBA players report to training camp, Griner is very much on the minds of her teammates.
“It’s tough. We all are concerned about her,” Phoenix Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said Monday, according to ESPN. “It is something that we think about, and we pray to make sure that she is safe and that she comes home quickly.”
“We feel confident that everything is being done to make sure that she can get back as quickly as possible, that everybody is working behind the scenes to make that happen,” Nygaard continued. “I definitely wake up sometimes in the middle of the night worried about BG. All we can do is keep doing what we’re doing.”
In March, it was reported that Griner’s detention had been extended until May 19, meaning the WNBA star will spend at least one more month in Russian custody.
While information on Griner’s condition has been sparse, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told CNN that an official from the U.S. Embassy was finally “granted consular access to Brittney Griner” in late March.
“Within the past couple hours, an official from our embassy has been granted consular access to Brittney Griner,” Price said on CNN. “We were able to check on her condition. We will continue to work very closely with her legal team, with her broader network to see to it that she is treated fairly. That is a message that we will continue to convey in no uncertain terms to the Russian Federation.”
Price was able to provide an update on her condition, saying that Griner was in “good condition.”
Mercury teammate Diana Taurasi, who has played professionally in Russia during her career, said that Griner’s detention may change the way WNBA players look at playing overseas.
“It’s a very delicate situation,” Taurasi said. “I spent 10 years [in Russia], so I know the way things work there.”
“It’s a dangerous world everywhere you go,” Taurasi continued. “It might change the perspective of different [WNBA players] going overseas. That’s a personal choice people are gonna have to make.”
“We’ve just got to keep praying for her,” guard Sophie Cunningham said. “We hope she’s well. No one wants to be in her situation. We miss her like crazy, so we’re still just trying to do good things around the community, you know, her shoe drive, so if you want to do anything to support her, let’s do that but (we’re) just praying for her.”
The season will begin for Phoenix on May 6 against the Las Vegas Aces.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].