Four years ago, one of the top athletes in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) refused to come out of the locker room to acknowledge the national anthem. Today, she is “honored” to represent the United States at the Olympics—a mindset that shifted once her government spared her from a lengthy prison sentence in Russia.
Brittney Griner may be a two-time gold medalist and a star of the Phoenix Mercury WNBA team, but she’s not without her share of controversy. The athlete made headlines in 2022 when she was detained by Russian authorities for suspected drug smuggling.
At the time, she had been traveling to play in an international league but wound up in jail after Russian police found cannabis oil stored in vape cartridges in her bags. The stint landed her in foreign detainment for 10 months.
Griner was brought home in a highly controversial prisoner swap initiated by the American government, which was criticized for bringing home a drug-carrying athlete who has publicly disrespected the country instead of requesting the return of a former Marine who was being wrongly detained.
This week, the United States managed to bring Paul Whelan home, along with Evan Gershkovich, a journalist for the Wall Street Journal. Both men were in jail for charges related to espionage that were vehemently rejected by themselves and the American government. Whelan—who was not selected as the prisoner to be released through multiple high-profile swaps with Russia, including Griner’s—has been in jail since 2018.
Gershkovich was first arrested last year and only recently convicted in a rushed trial that left many wondering if an exchange was finally going to occur. The August 1 swap marks the largest prisoner exchange between the two countries since the Cold War. Russia received eight prisoners, including a convicted assassin, and released 16 prisoners, four of whom are American.
Griner reacted to the news by saying it was a “great day” and that she was “head over heels happy” for the released prisoners and their families. She added that it is “a win” whenever “Americans come home.” The basketball star also noted that the whole situation is “definitely emotional” for her following her own stint in Russian prison two years ago.
During a recent interview discussing her upcoming Olympic participation, Griner said that representing her country in the international athletic event “means everything” considering her experience as a Russian-held prisoner. She also noted that she hoped the games are victorious for the United States and that she wants the national anthem to be playing.
Griner’s December 2022 prisoner exchange was especially controversial due to the fact that, just two years earlier, she had refused to pay her respects to the American flag and anthem. She stated in 2020 that she did not support the traditional practice of playing the national anthem before sporting events, noting her belief in “taking a stand” against so-called police brutality, specifically related to the death of Breonna Taylor.
The comments from Griner were a familiar tune sung by many celebrities during the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, sparked by the death of George Floyd.
