Brittney Griner’s Release from Prison

On December 8th, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia since February, had been released from prison and was heading back to the U.S.  In February, Griner was detained after she was discovered to have had a vape containing less than a gram of hash oil in her possession, which is illegal in Russia.  She pleaded guilty (though there are many legal experts familiar with Russian law who have said that this doesn’t necessarily mean that she was guilty given how the Russian legal system works) and ultimately was sentenced to 9 years in prison and transferred to a penal colony in Russia.

 

What happened

The U.S. and Russia announced that there was a prison exchange with Russia where the U.S. would get Griner and Russia would get Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer nicknamed “The Merchant of Death” who was arrested in Thailand in 2008 on terrorism-related charges before being extradited to the U.S.  While this doesn’t sound like an equal trade, it should be noted that Russia would always have the upper hand in this situation since Griner was a notable figure.  It also should be noted that the prison sentences served (months out of 9 years for Griner and 11 years since charged out of minimum 25 years for Bout) is also something I expect would play a role, though not as much as the celebrity status of Griner.  When Biden announced the exchange was completed, he specified that Griner was already on her way back to the U.S., indicating that she was safe.

What happens from here

Griner was flown to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for a medical examination, which makes sense given she was detained for around 10 months.  WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said that the league will give her time with her family prior to returning to the league and the spotlight.  As such, we don’t know yet how long any recovery needed for Griner with her just being released and evaluated, but I have heard multiple sources suspect that she will likely stay at the hospital for at least several days for the examination and recovery process.

Paul Whelan

After Griner’s release was announced, there was some outrage that she was released but other prisoners, most notably Paul Whelan, was not released.  Whelan was arrested in Russia while visiting for a wedding on charges of espionage and was sentenced to 16 years in prison, a crime that Whelan, his family, and the U.S. government has denied.  However, while there were many reports that the U.S. was trying to get back both Griner and Whelan in the same deal, multiple sources involved in the U.S. government have said that Russia is treating Whelan differently due to the charges.  While the U.S. was hoping to include the two in exchange for Bout, it’s sounding like Russia wanted a spy (or someone of a similar caliber) in exchange for Whelan.  I expect Whelan will be traded at some point, but there was minimal chance that he would be included in this exchange.

What this means for the Phoenix Mercury and WNBA

After Phoenix had a difficult season last year where they missed Griner, experienced multiple injuries, dealt with interpersonal issues, and limped their way into the playoffs, it makes sense to be optimistic to have Griner back with the team.  Ultimately, the truth is that we don’t know what condition she is physically at the time of writing, so it is unfair to make predictions about how she will perform on the court.  After her contract was suspended at the end of last season, there is also uncertainty regarding Skylar-Diggins Smith’s future in Phoenix, which could change the course of their season since she is a superstar.  If nothing else though, Griner is a popular figure in the WNBA, which was shown given the campaigning for her release over the past season.  In addition to it being a great thing that she is safe now, the WNBA now has another cause that they have been fighting for which was successful in bringing Griner back home.  Griner is my favorite player to watch in the WNBA right now so selfishly I am excited from a basketball standpoint; that said, I am more relieved that she is back home and can be safe now.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2025 WNBA Mock Draft

The 2025 WNBA Draft is finally here, which means that we get my Mock Draft!  One year after a loaded draft, most draft-eligible stars returned to school for another year (likely to see what the salary structure looks like after the next collective bargaining agreement), so we have a bit of a weaker draft.  There are two players who have star upside (the top two picks) and another who I think has a chance of becoming an All-Star.  As I do with all my mock drafts, these are an aggregate of several other drafts, and do not reflect my order.   The first round considers team needs as well as the order; I did not do this for the second or third rounds because most players after the first round are selected for training camp and then don’t make the roster. With the addition of the Golden State Valkyries, there are now 13 picks in each round, with the exception of the first round; Las Vegas was stripped of their first round pick for violating league rules.   1: ...
Read more

2025 WNBA Draft Grades

The WNBA Draft is in the books, and now that I have finally gotten my ducks in a row, I am ready to discuss the grades!  While it was an interesting draft with multiple storylines, I also thought that it was a weak draft after who I thought were the top 3 players in the draft (with two, Paige Bueckers and Dominique Molonga, being the top 2 picks, and a third, Shyanne Sellers, falling to the second round).  A big part of this is due to players with eligibility waiting to see the result of next year’s new collective bargaining agreement. With my grades, I did not penalize teams if I thought they should have taken a different player (in that situation, everyone who passed on Sellers after the first two picks would have gotten a worse grade than they did), but focused on the player they did pick and what I thought about the selection and fit.   With my grades, there isn’t an exact formula, but I prioritized first round picks, then second round picks, and then third round pi...
Read more

2025 NBA Mock Draft 1

Every year, I release 3 mock drafts prior to the NBA Draft, and this is the first!  This has been considered an elite class due to the projected top-2 picks, but how polarizing players are starting at the potential 3 rd pick will make this a very interesting draft cycle. All of my drafts are aggregates of several drafts and are intended to give an idea of what the draft is looking like at this point in time (while I would love it if I am right on several picks in the mock, there’s movement that I won’t know about until during the draft).  While I account for need in certain picks (more so in the first round, especially the lottery), these are not a reflection of what I think of each pick or how I would rank the prospects.  The picks are divided into three sections:  for the lottery, I provided vitals, in depth analysis, comparison, and the fit with the team.  For the remaining first round picks, I provided vitals, brief analysis, and compa...
Read more