The Most Important Basketball Player in the World

On March 5^th, it was revealed that WNBA superstar Brittney Griner, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, was arrested in February for having hash oil at an airport in Russia, which is illegal in the country.  Normally this is a non-story, as most of the focus tends to be about how she shouldn’t have brought it (the response tends to be about a person’s view of the laws or a personal relation to that individual) or why she was in Russia to begin with (she was playing for a team in Russia, which most players are forced to do due to the salaries overseas compared to domestically, but that’s neither applicable here nor a conversation most sports fans seem ready to have).  However, this situation is different:  ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and Russian governments have shown no interest in doing any sort of negotiations.

Normally, this isn’t that big of a story since there are policies in place for U.S. citizens who are arrested in a foreign country.  It is typically recommended that the arrested individual contacts a U.S. diplomat or representative who will provide assistance.  While the U.S. cannot technically force the foreign country to release or extradite the individual to the U.S., there have been instances of higher profile cases where there have been petitions to release the said individual (one that comes to mind with another basketball player is LiAngelo Ball following his arrest in China in 2017).  This is different given the current political climate.

There are two things that make this a really interesting situation to watch.  The first is that there really isn’t any motivation for Putin to release Griner.  Given the fact that the U.S. is among the countries that have implemented financial sanctions against Russia, Putin isn’t going to suddenly feel more generous than he ever has with the U.S.  While I expect many Americans will try to call for her release, it will mostly be on deaf ears unless Russia is faced with stricter punishments as a result.  This leads to the second thing to watch:  how will Russia utilize this situation to their advantage?  When I heard this news, that was one of the first things my mind went to (and it sounds like I am not alone).  It wouldn’t surprise me if Russia attempts to use Griner as a hostage situation for leverage in negotiations to remove sanctions, which will make for a messy situation internationally and potentially domestically.

While many have wondered whether the arrest was set up due to Griner being an American or being a black and gay (it wouldn’t surprise me, but I don’t want to make that accusation yet), I have been curious what kind of impact it would have in the U.S.  While Griner is a superstar in the WNBA, both the league and female athletes have received their share of criticism and scoff due to inherently sexist views regarding female athletics.  As such, I think there will be a debate of whether there would be a harder push to bring an NBA superstar back to the U.S. in this situation than there will be to bring Griner.  While we won’t know with certainty, I think there absolutely would be because the NBA would get more involved in that situation and have been more than willing to push morals aside for financial benefit (notably recently occurring regarding China).  Will there be individuals that cry out that there is sexism involved with this?  Could this conversation be taken one step further and suggest that the WNBA should pay their players more so female players don’t have to travel into foreign countries and deal with this sort of potential?  I question whether these kind of protests or questions gain any traction, though it will be interesting to see what occurs as a result.

Ultimately, Britney Griner might become a large piece in the future of U.S. and Russia policies.  While she is not the first American to be arrested in Russia on suspicious charges, she is the most notable.  Since Putin has expressed no interest in playing fair with the other countries, you can bet that he won’t be willing to allow Griner to return to the U.S. anytime soon.  While I of course selfishly want her to return to the U.S. and play in the WNBA since she is my favorite current WNBA player, I fear for what this means for U.S.-Russia relations and, most importantly, for her and her loved ones.  As much as I hope that she is treated in a fair manner, I cannot say I have much optimism about any of this.