Brittney Griner, WNBA star and Phoenix Mercury player, has been jailed in Russia for over 100 days, and it appears that people closest to her are suffering greatly as a result of her protracted and perplexing absence.
100 Days 2,400 hours 8,640,000 seconds IT’S TIME TO BRING BRITTNEY HOME! Brittney Griner, WNBA Superstar and American citizen, has been wrongfully detained in Russia since February 17th. Visit http://wearebg.org or call the White House at tel:2024561111 demanding BG’s release #WeAreBG #BrittneyGriner
Posted by Brittney Griner on Saturday, 28 May 2022
Brittney and her wife, Cherelle Griner, just celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary, a day to remember. Sadly, the two were unable to make a celebration phone contact since the US Embassy in Moscow was closed on that day.
There was probably a lot of emotion building up to the call, especially because Brittney and Cherelle haven’t heard each other’s voices in the four months since Brittney’s imprisonment started. The Russian government had permitted the phone contact, but Cherelle’s phone did not ring on June 18, 2022. She was first concerned that the Russian government had intervened.
Cherelle’s experience was certainly upsetting and disheartening. She expressed that she was devastated. She was in pain and was tired of it all. She thinks she texted BG’s agent and said she doesn’t want to talk to anyone. It’ll take her a moment to gather her emotions before she informs everyone she is unavailable right now. Since it completely knocked her out. she wasn’t feeling good, and she is still not feeling well.
Confusion and concern are spreading within the WNBA community as Brittney’s arrest persists without any visible words of reassurance or advice from the US government. Cherelle Griner petitioned President Joe Biden to do more in late May 2022, voicing her dissatisfaction with the lack of action in bringing her wife home. The mistake now appears to be the work of the US government.
Brittney’s attorney informed Cherelle that the basketball star called her 11 times during the day, using a phone number provided by the US Embassy in Moscow. Because no one was available to answer the phone, the phone merely rang and rang, never connecting Brittney to her wife in Phoenix, Arizona.
Cherelle “I keep hearing, ‘He has influence,’ and ‘She’s a political pawn.’ ‘If they’re holding her because they want you (Biden) to do something, then do it.'”
Several casual basketball fans are astonished that an American was playing overseas in Russia at all. Unlike the NBA, which pays its athletes a minimum of $1 million per year, many WNBA players are forced to play overseas for other countries in order to make ends meet.
Moving between two worlds can be both exciting and lonely for WNBA players, many of whom would rather stay at home, near their family and loved ones, than fly in their off season to play for other countries. It’s also worth emphasising that if Brittney Griner could have supported herself only by playing in the United States, she wouldn’t have landed herself in this situation in the first place.
So far, Brittney and her family’s future looks to be uncertain. Her incarceration in Russia has been prolonged until July 2, 2022, with no news on what will occur after that.
Cherelle Griner is currently confronted with the big challenge of enduring, fighting, and hoping for the best.
