WNBA star Brittney Griner is turning 32 in a Russian jail cell as she serves a nine-year prison sentence. She released a statement via her lawyer to all her fans and supporters.
“Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home,” she said per CNN. “All the support and love are definitely helping me.”
Stephen Curry Calls For Griner's Release During Warriors Ring Ceremony
On Tuesday, Stephen Curry brought up Griner's plight during the highest-profile moment of the NBA's opening night. In a birthday shoutout, Curry called for Griner's release.
"Brittney Griner's birthday is today," Curry said in front of a sold-out crowd at San Francisico's Chase Center. "She's 32 years old. We want to continue to let her name be known, and we pray — it's been 243 days since she's been wrongfully incarcerated in Russia — we hope that she comes home soon and that everybody's doing their part to bring her home."
The seven-time WNBA All-Star is going into her ninth month in a Russian prison for possessing less than a gram of cannabis oil in her suitcase when entering a Moscow airport to finish up her seventh season with Russia’s UMMC Yekaterinburg team.
Prisoner Swap?
These past several months, the White House and Kremlin had seemingly agreed that a prisoner exchange was in the works even naming convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, though movement in those talks seems to have come to a halt.
This past Sunday, an aide to President Vladimir Putin said Griner is not a priority for Russia.
Griner, sentenced on August 4, admitted at her trial that she had less than a gram of cannabis oil in her suitcase that she’d forgotten to remove in her haste to pack for her return trip to Moscow to finish up the basketball season. She was given a nine-year sentence at a penal colony.
Her lawyers intend to appeal that draconian sentence on Oct. 25.
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