Brittney Griner Vows to Not Play Overseas, Save for Olympics

Brittney Griner made her first appearance at a WNBA news conference, vowing to no longer play basketball overseas unless it is for Team USA in the Olympics.

Griner was detained for nearly 10 month in Russia after being busted for illegal drug possession, leading to strained negotiations between Washington and Moscow that led to a controversial exchange in the United Arab Emirates for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout on Dec. 8.

Conservatives and Biden administration critics condemned the giving up of an arms dealer for a basketball player.

Republican lawmakers were fiercely critical of what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called a “one or none” deal that did not include the release of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

Former President Donald Trump called it “a ‘stupid’ and unpatriotic embarrassment.”

She was arrested in February 2022 at a Moscow airport after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Asked if she felt guilt for getting home, Griner said it hurt to know others were living in the conditions she did and she had a “no one left behind” mindset she attributed to her father, a veteran of the Vietnam War.

“If I could have went in and got them out or any of that, I mean, of course I would have,” Griner said. “I hope that we – everyone – continues to bring awareness and fight to bring home everyone.”

The 32-year-old will begin her 10th season with the Mercury when their season kicks off on May 19 and said she will never play abroad again – as many in the WNBA do to earn extra income – unless it is to represent her country at the Olympics.

“I’m no stranger to hard times,” Griner said from the lobby of the Footprint Center, home of the Phoenix Mercury and the NBA’s Phoenix Suns in a news conference attended by more than 100 people, including Arizona Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs. “Just digging deep. You’re going to be faced with adversities in life. This was a pretty big one. I just relied on my hard work to get through it.”

Griner said she was prescribed medical cannabis in the United States for a chronic injury and never intended to break the law. U.S. officials said she was wrongly detained and was being used as a political pawn amid increasingly strained relations with Russia.

She thanked President Joe Biden on Thursday for helping negotiate her release and said looking at photos of her family helped her keep going while she was detained.

“I was aware of the efforts and everything that was going on,” Griner said. “It made me have hope.”

Griner pledged to dedicate herself to bringing home other Americans detained abroad and announced she and the Phoenix Mercury would partner with Bring Our Families Home to champion the cause.

“The whole reason a lot of us go over, you know, is the pay gap,” said Griner, who signed a one-year deal to stay with the Mercury in February.

“I don’t knock any player that wants to go overseas and make a little bit of extra money. I’m hoping that our league continues to grow.”

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used to compile this report.