WNBA stars agree on Brittney Griner arrest: ‘It could have been any of us’

Brittney Griner’s USA Basketball teammates addressed her detention in Russia on Wednesday because the gamers have been in a coaching camp simply forward of the beginning of the 2022 WNBA season.

Angel McCoughtry and Breanna Stewart each spoke in regards to the state of affairs. McCoughtry signed with the Minnesota Lynx within the offseason and Stewart is getting ready for an additional run with the Seattle Storm.

“Individuals are saying she’s 6-foot-9, she’s completely different. It’s actually not about that,” McCoughtry mentioned. “It may have been any of us.”

Stewart pointed to the discrepancy in salaries as the explanation why WNBA gamers could really feel like they should play abroad within the offseason. A supermax wage within the WNBA may earn a participant simply over $221,000 for the common season, which runs from Might to October. 

Gamers have the choice to remain within the U.S. and do different media work within the offseason however some select to go to different nations, like Russia, the place they might earn round $1 million or extra.

“The large factor is the truth that we’ve to go over there. It was BG, however it may have been anyone,” Stewart mentioned. “WNBA gamers have to be valued of their nation they usually received’t should play abroad.”

Whereas the salaries are good, the hazards are actual.

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Brittney Griner and Breanna Stewart watch a shot through the 2021 WNBA All-Star Recreation on July 14, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
(Ethan Miller/Getty Photographs)

Stewart’s teammate Sue Chicken performed in Russia at factors throughout her illustrious basketball profession. She performed for WBC Spartak within the Russian Premier League, a membership that was sponsored by former KGB spy Shabtai Kalmanovich. He was assassinated in 2009.

Chicken just lately instructed CBS Information the cash that was provided was life-changing.

“Completely. Like, I am a millionaire due to it. And, actually, I believe the extra the league grows, the extra protection we get possibly gamers will not should go abroad as a result of they’re going to be making sufficient cash right here and I believe that’s in the end the objective,” Chicken mentioned, including she sees larger salaries for WNBA gamers sooner or later.

Griner was arrested in February at a Moscow airport for allegedly possessing vape cartridges containing oils derived from hashish. The Phoenix Mercury star was detained and has been held ever since whereas first experiences of her arrest didn’t come to gentle till earlier this month – days after Russia started its invasion of Ukraine.

State Division spokesperson Ned Value mentioned final week that an official from the U.S. Embassy was capable of see Griner just lately and she or he was mentioned to be “in good situation.” The Russian authorities allowed the U.S. to offer consular entry to Griner weeks after her arrest was reported.

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WNBA gamers have largely been quiet about Griner’s launch, which can be deliberate as officers from the U.S. authorities and the WNBA work behind the scenes.

“Everybody’s getting the technique of say much less and push extra privately behind the scenes,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert instructed the New York Each day Information on March 18. “It’s the technique you get from the State Division and administration. It’s our No. 1 precedence in speaking together with her agent and strategists.”

Phoenix Mercury middle Brittney Griner appears to be like to move as Chicago Sky middle Candace Parker defends through the WNBA basketball Finals on Oct. 10, 2021, in Phoenix.
(AP Photograph/Ralph Freso, File)

Individually, the WNBA mentioned in a press release on March 17: “In shut collaboration with U.S. authorities businesses, elected officers, people and organizations with experience in these issues, and Brittney Griner’s representatives and household, we proceed to work diligently to get her safely residence to america. This continues to be a posh state of affairs that’s extraordinarily troublesome for Brittney, her household, and all who’re hoping for a swift decision. Our primary precedence stays her protected return.”

Meadowlark Media’s Kate Fagan additionally supplied context on March 5 about why Griner’s arrest wasn’t made public instantly.

Griner may withstand 10 years in a Russian jail if convicted.

Her detention was prolonged till Might 19, in response to Russian media. The WNBA season begins Might 6.

The Related Press contributed to this report.