Brittney Griner speaks at her first press conference since returning to the US in December (Picture: REUTERS)
Brittney Griner held her first press conference since returning home after being arrested and imprisoned in Russia.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and center for the Phoenix Mercury, spoke about her time in the Russian penal system, adjusting to life back in the United States, and her efforts to help other Americans wrongfully detained overseas.
Griner thanked the US government, the media, and the fans for keeping her story alive and not forgetting about her during her detainment.
She also said that she was aware of the many social media campaigns supporting her over the 8-month period. ‘It made me a little bit more comfortable,’ Griner said. ‘It made me able to have hope.’
Artist Antoinette Cauley (left), Cherelle Griner (second left) and Brittney Griner (center) pose next to Cauley’s mural supporting Americans detained overseas (Picture: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Griner was playing in for UMMC Ekaterinburg, a team in the Russian Women’s Basketball Premier League during the WNBA offseason, which she said was necessary due to the pay gap in women’s professional sports.
‘The whole reason a lot of us go over is the pay gap. A lot of us go over there to make an income to support our families, to support ourselves. So I don’t knock any player that wants to go overseas and make a little bit of extra money.’
However, Griner herself said that she would no longer do the same. ‘Well I can say for me, I’m never going overseas to play again, unless I’m representing my country at the Olympics,’ Griner said. ‘If I make that team, that would be the only time I would leave the US soil.’
Since returning to the US in December, Griner called her training to restart her WNBA career ‘strenuous.’
Brittney Griner wore a shirt with the names of Americans wrongly detained overseas (Picture: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
‘Getting back into it was hard. It’s still a process,’ she said. ‘As an athlete, you always want to be where you left off. And I left off in the playoffs – the finals in Chicago. And I wanted to be that player when I started back.’
In the upcoming season, Griner promised to continue shining a spotlight on wrongfully detained Americans across the world with her work with the Bring Our Families Home campaign.
‘I would say to everyone that is wrongfully detained right now across the world: stay strong, keep fighting, don’t give up,’ she said.
Griner also commented on the recent imprisonment of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in Russia on espionage charges in March.
‘No one should be in those conditions,’ Griner said.
She said that she had not spoken to the detained reporter yet, but her agency has reached out to his family in the US. ‘They have been in touch with family, and helping out by sharing knowledge,’ Griner said.
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The WNBA star spoke about about her time in the Russian penal system, adjusting to life back in the United States, and her efforts to help other Americans wrongfully detained overseas.
