Brittney Griner says she will continue to fight for US prisoners abroad

basketball player Britney Grinertwo-time Olympic champion, gave her first press conference since returning to USA after after bars for ten months V Russiaassured that he would continue to fight for Americans imprisoned abroad.

Player Phoenix Mercuryhe thought this Thursday.

He knew about the effort and everything that was going on, about the #WeAreBG (#SomosBG, after his initials) campaign. Just knowing and realizing this (…) made me a little more comfortable, gave me hope, which is very hard to have, very dangerous, because when it doesn’t work, it’s destructive.

Later he added.

To all those unjustly detained around the world, stay strong, keep fighting, don’t give up (…). Keep pushing because we’re not going to stop fighting, we’re not going to stop raising awareness for all those left behind.

Griner was detained in February 2022 at a Russian airport and sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling after being arrested for carrying vaping marijuana oil cartridges.

US authorities announced in December an agreement with Russia to release her in exchange for an arms dealer. Victor Boot.

“It’s a little different than a basketball press conference. There’s a lot of media here today…” he joked before the suspense generated by this speech at the Phoenix Track Center five months after returning home.

The player once again expressed his gratitude to the President of the United States, Joe Bidenin the media, in WNBA and Phoenix Mercury, his wife, and all those who worked so that he could return.

Griner, who couldn’t help but burst into tears at the first question, said going through “hard times” was nothing new to her.

“You will face adversity throughout your life. And it was pretty big.”he noted, pointing out that, as in his athletic career, he was trying to “keep his head down and move on.”

The Mercury Center also talked about her situation, now back in the US, while other US prisoners, such as journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-military Paul Whelan, are still behind bars in Russia, and reflected on the question of the journalist, did she feel some kind of “guilt” for this.

It’s hard, it’s hard. I come from a military family and I have a “leave no one behind” mentality. It hurts, because no one should be in such conditions, no doubt.

Griner also said that when she “lost hope” during her months of imprisonment in Russia, seeing photos of her family allowed her to regain faith in the possibility of returning to her country.

You don’t realize how nice a letter is from your family or people you don’t even know. This lets you know that you have not been forgotten and it is very easy to feel forgotten.

The Olympic champion spends her pre-season with Phoenix, with whom she won the championship ring in 2014.

It’s one thing to get back on the court, it’s another thing to go home.

Return with BG to Footprint Center May 21st 🧡 pic.twitter.com/UTTYGHDJM5

— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) April 24, 2023

However, she admitted that it was “exhausting” to get back into shape after so many months without training to compete in the WNBA again.

Similarly, Griner expressed regret that many players have to play overseas during the months when the WNBA is not present because American league salaries are very low (the agreement’s maximum salary for 2022 was $228,094).

I will never play abroad again unless I represent my country in the Olympics. But I’ll put it this way: the whole reason so many of us leave is the pay gap. Many of us leave to earn money to help our families.

As a comparison, Stephen Curryfrom the Golden State, is the highest paid this season in the NBA, earning 48 million dollars.

(According to information from EFE)