THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) season is in full swing and the All-Star break is fast approaching with the main game being played in Las Vegas on July 15. The best of the best, voted for by fans, and colleagues in both playing capacity and media, are being led by A'Ja Wilson of the hometown Aces, and the New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart. The two leading vote-getters will captain opposing sides, just as they did last year, when Team Wilson outscored Team Stewart 134-112, in Chicago.
However, one name on the list stood out during a live announcement on ABC Television, was that of now 9-time All-Star selection Brittney Griner. A huge star on the court having won two gold medals at the Olympics with Team USA, winning one championship with the Phoenix Mercury in 2014, the only team she has played for since being drafted in 2013. Leading the way in many categories, including twice scoring champion in 2107 and 2019. It is however off the court that many around the world will have heard her name on news reports.
Her fabled college career that blossomed into a triumph as a professional in the WNBA, was always going to gain extra interest as fame often does when a bright talent emerges. Griner was going to use this to the best of her abilities as she started to highlight issues away from her playing time. In fact it was before she made headlines as a pro athlete that she had a major interview with Sports Illustrated where she cam out as a lesbian, and talked of how life growing up was extremely difficult due to bullying, and how it was to fit in. This led to an awkward period with her father, as he struggled to come to terms with Griner's life becoming public. This announcement didn't put off the major sponsors coming forward, in fact what better way to endorse a product than having a ground breaking athlete as your cover star. Nike were the first really big company to have an openly gay athlete on their books, and Griner was now the center of attention as social media bloomed. Of course this had its pitfalls where online abuse would often cut down many people, stop them in their tracks. This was nothing new to Griner, having suffered the abuse during her adolescence, but didn't make it any easier to see or read. Instead though in true winners tradition the negatives were turned into positives and fueled her fire.
There were bumps in the road, domestic violence charges in her first marriage to Glory Johnson led to suspensions and a long spell in counseling. The two had children together but ultimately the marriage broke down, and since then Griner has remarried. Controversially, Griner, and Brianna Turner asked for the National Anthem to stop being played before games in 2020, and teammates at the Mercury didn't stand during its playing time, this was all in support of the protests around the time of the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Being a leading voice in the WNBA the platform was huge, and the louder Griner talked, more listened.
However, none of all her past accomplishments could help her in February 2022 when she was arrested in Russia on drug trafficking charges. A result of having a prescribed dose of vaporized medicinal cannabis, which carried less than a gram of the drug, but which is profoundly illegal in Russia. This was as high profile as you could get in a time where the invasion of Ukraine by Russia was on every headline, and broadcast around the world. Now Griner was at the center of not just her own personal battle, but a war that was being fought not just on the frontline, but those with power back in cabinet offices of the leading firepower around the globe. With heavy sanctions being imposed Griner was in danger of being used as a political pawn, and something to be bartered with. Talks of prisoner exchanges soon emerged. All the while Griner was getting the best legal advice and when the trial began in July she admitted guilt of carrying the substance, but with no intent to break the law.
A month later Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison, with a million roubles fine bolted on, this equates to around $16,000. This far exceeded the normal punishment for such a crime. Fierce negotiations were now under way and the first was that she was transferred to a more remote location. The other was to arrange a shortened sentence, or the prisoner exchange that had been mooted from the start. In November the prison transfer was complete, and just a month later after some heavy negotiation, was released in exchange for the release of arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had served 10 years of his 25 year sentence in the United States.
Griner will always be known now for the 10 months she spent in a Russian penal facility, and it seems controversy will always be a word that is written alongside her name. Even as recent as this month she has spoken out about harassment at an airport when confronted by a YouTube influencer, who was asking inappropriate questions about her time in Russia. Talking to ESPN about the unsavory incident she said, "I'll say this. I think we should have already had the option to use a different airline, a more private airline, charter flights. It's a shame that it had to get to rock bottom because I feel like waiting for something to happen and then making a change."
The Phoenix Mercury are currently sitting at the bottom of the WNBA standings, and Griner is struggling with some niggling injuries. She is very much dedicated to playing the game and fighting her corner where appropriate. Her ninth All Star game selection will again put the spotlight in her direction, but her form is still there, as she is still top 5 in both scoring and blocks. There is no doubting the talent and superstardom, but Griner will also sadly have to play the rest of her career and beyond with the prison tag around her neck.
