Brittney Griner in Russia: What Happened When She Was Leaving the U.S., or What Did She Tell Us About Her Detention?
Biden already had confirmed with a straightforward and powerful tweet — “Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. There is no danger to her. She is in the air. She’s on her way home. — that the basketball star’s nearly 10-month detention in Russia was, indeed over, and gave brief remarks verifying the news, as well as the fact that US businessman Paul Whelan, imprisoned in Russia on charges of espionage (which he has denied) since December, 2018, was not, as the US had hoped, part of the deal.
She said there are many other families who are not whole. “And so, BG is not here to say this, but I will gladly speak on her behalf and say that BG and I will remain committed to the work of getting every American home.”
The elation of the family, friends, teammates and fans was never more apparent than during the predawn whispers that he had been released in a prisoner swap for a convicted Russian arms dealer.
Even though Biden emphasized the importance of keeping Whelan in the conversation, he did not let that distract him from the fact that he got Cherelle back in the States.
While the US State Department described the allegations against Griner as “wrongful,” public response to her detainment and subsequent trial and conviction for carrying vape dispensers containing trace amounts of hashish oil became a primer on so many things.
Responses to her plight were perhaps especially revealing about sexism and the role of women in elite sport, with reactions on Twitter ranging from those who claimed Griner had it coming — if you do the crime, you do the time — doing battle with teammates and fans who demanded her release.
If she was a basketball player in the NBA, her path to getting her home would be different. Would she have been in Russia at all — a place that until her detainment treated (and paid) her like the star that she is — if not for the excessive gendered chasm that exists in the paychecks of American professional athletes?
We know the answers to these questions. Now that she’s coming home, what does her legacy look like because she spent so much time in the headlines?
As Griner saw a wedding anniversary, a birthday and a WNBA season from behind the bars of a holding cell that could barely contain her towering figure, it became clear that much of the public knew of Griner only as a political pawn, rather than the generational athlete that she is — the owner of the dunking record in the WNBA.
Her legacy has taken a hit, she was sent to serve a nine-year jail sentence in Russia for her crime, and she was depicted in a Russian holding cell, as well as the tales of the Russian penal colony outside of Moscow.
Would he be at home if that was the case? The coach asked if the player could play last July. It is about the value of women. It is a statement about the value of a black person. It’s a statement about the value of a gay person. All of those things. We know it, and so that’s what hurts a little more.”
Her return is not less political than her imprisonment. While properly deemed a victory for the Biden administration after a critical final midterm win in Georgia on Tuesday, and Griner’s freedom a joyous outcome worth its cost, the return of Bout also gives Vladimir Putin, who for months had been called noncommittal regarding a swap for Griner, a victory in a week when he likely felt he really needed one.
Amidst news that Russia’s campaign against Ukraine continues to fail on many levels, and Time’s naming of Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky as its 2022 Person of the Year, a statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about Bout celebrates the work to “rescue our compatriot” and affirms that the “Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.”
Remembering Bretney Griner: When will you return to the White House, where will you be? How will Lisa Leslie and the rest of us remember you?
As for Griner, what comes next should be up to her, with questions of whether or not she will return to the court best left for another day. Instead of diving into those stories, we should take a deep breath and consider how much has been revealed about things that should be left to the imagination. The White House was a good place to say that the families of those who are still not whole should not be forgotten.
The earlier version of this op-ed did not accurately describe one of the accomplishments ofBrittney Griner. Griner holds the dunking record but Lisa Leslie was the first player in the league to dunk.
When will you return to the Phoenix Mercury, your teammates and the U.S. national team after winning a gold medal in the Olympics?
Roughly a decade ago, you became one of the first Black and openly lesbian headliners in women’s basketball. In your trademark soft-spoken manner, you pushed for racial and social change in America. Will you use this moment to become a more powerful advocate?
You owe nothing more than the gratitude that you have already expressed to those who stood by your side and worked for your release.
You might have not been well-known in the public eye before this happened. More and more people know that you were part of the wave of W.N. B.A. players who spoke out against racial injustice. You worked to help the L.G.B.T.Q. people in Phoenix.
The Mercury’s president: What have you been trying to tell me during the last few months? Or what did you tell your boss and friend about other people?
When I spoke to Victor Kozar, the Mercury’s president, this week, he mentioned the letters you exchanged over the last several months. “At all times, she was asking about other people,” said Kozar, your boss and friend. “Her concern was about other people. First and foremost, she asked how her teammates were doing, asking us to ensure we were taking care of her wife.”