Four and a half months after her return from Russian custody, US basketball star Brittney Griner spoke publicly about her experiences in prison for the first time. “Hard and difficult times are no stranger to me,” Griner said at a press conference in front of about 100 people in the US state of Arizona, which was also attended by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs. “You’re faced with adversity all of life, and it was a pretty tough one,” Griner said. “I focused on myself and got through it. I just relied on my hard work to get through it.”
In early February 2022, Griner was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport and later sentenced to nine years in prison by a Russian court for illegal drug possession and attempted smuggling. Cartridges of cannabis oil were discovered in their luggage. At that time she played for the team UMMC Yekaterinburg in the Urals. The 32-year-old spent a total of almost ten months in Russian detention before being released in early December last year as part of a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor But.
US President Joe Biden fought for her release. How many people had campaigned for the end of their imprisonment was an important motivation for the star player. “There was sometimes some delay in delivering news, but I was aware of the effort and everything that was going on around me,” Griner said. “It gave me hope, even though it was hard to have any hope at all, and even though hopes can also be dangerous because when they don’t come true, it’s depressing.”
In terms of sport, the center player is preparing for her comeback. The Texan native signed a one-year contract with her former club Phoenix Mercury in mid-February. In the first half of April, Griner also announced that she wanted to publish a book about her imprisonment in Russia.
At the Arizona press conference, she also announced that she would never again play for a foreign team outside of the United States – with one exception: “I will never play abroad again, except when I represent my country at the Olympics,” said Griner “should If I make the team, it would be the only time I leave American soil.”