Dawn Staley expresses concern for Brittney Griner, praying for her amid arrest in Russia

Daybreak Staley, a former WNBA star and present coach of the top-ranked South Carolina girls’s basketball crew, expressed her issues about Brittney Griner on Wednesday.

Staley tweeted she was praying for the Phoenix Mercury heart’s protected return house after she was arrested in Russia for allegedly possessing vape cartridges that comprise oil derived from hashish.

“I can’t cease serious about and praying for Brittney Griner. My prayer is for her to seek out the right peace and power to get through every day…..and a particular prayer for individuals who are working for her speedy launch,” Staley tweeted. “Please hold them lifted in prayer till she’s stateside.”

Stories of Griner’s arrest surfaced Saturday. She was detained at a Moscow airport after Russian authorities mentioned a search of her baggage revealed the vape cartridges. Griner might resist 10 years in jail if convicted.

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Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and Burgess Owens, R-Utah, in a letter to President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken – and solely obtained by Fox Information Digital – acknowledged Griner could have violated Russian legislation however wrote that her detention since someday in February was regarding given the deteriorating geopolitical local weather.

“Right now, we write to you concerning the unlucky case of Ladies’s Nationwide Basketball Affiliation (W.N.B.A) star Heart Brittney Griner who stays in a Russian jail for violating the nation’s unlawful substance legal guidelines,” the Congress members wrote. “Each American – no matter their race, gender, or socioeconomic standing – should adhere to the principles of each sovereign nation. Whereas we’re not right here to name balls and strikes on Russian legislation, we’re very involved about Mrs. Griner’s detention beneath the present and quickly deteriorating circumstances in Russia and Japanese Europe.

SAITAMA, JAPAN – AUGUST 04: Brittney Griner #15 and head coach Daybreak Staley of Staff United States have fun a win towards Staff Australia in the course of the second half of a Ladies’s Basketball Quarterfinals recreation on day twelve of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Video games at Saitama Tremendous Enviornment on August 04, 2021 in Saitama, Japan.
(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Pictures)

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“Whereas Mrs. Griner made a grave mistake, we condemn the Russian authorities’s utilization of her as a pawn to additional their ruthless and sick purpose of fulfilling the reincarnation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). We name upon your administration to look Putin within the eyes and ship a transparent message to the Kremlin that America won’t tolerate Putin utilizing People as his pawn throughout this treacherous and bleak second in world historical past. Putin’s unprovoked and murderous assault on Ukraine is a slap within the face to the Western world, and it’s time that the USA stands as much as this bully. Mrs. Griner has proudly represented our nation right here at house and on the world stage, turning into one of many few W.N.B.A gamers to win a university championship, W.N.B.A and Euroleague titles, and an Olympic gold medal — and we urge the protected return of Mrs. Griner and every other People detained in Putin’s hellhole of a rustic.

Phoenix Mercury heart Brittney Griner (42) reacts after a basket towards the Las Vegas Aces in the course of the second half of Sport 2 within the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021, in Las Vegas.
(AP Picture/David Becker)

“In closing, it’s extra obvious than ever that actions have penalties, however no American ought to fall hostage to a heinous and deranged dictator,” they added. “As Ukraine continues to combat for its freedom valiantly, the USA of America should ship a message to the world that freedom should at all times prevail and that no American can be left behind. We pray for Ukraine and the protected return of Brittney Griner.”

Griner has spent her final seven winters in Russia, the place she earns greater than $1 million per season. The determine is greater than quadruple her WNBA wage. She final performed for her Russian crew, UMMC Ekaterinburg, on Jan. 29 earlier than the league took a two-week break in early February for the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournaments.