LeBron James Calls for Brittney Griner’s Safe Return: Everything to Know About the WNBA Star’s Detention
usmagazine.comThe fight to bring a legend home. WNBA star Brittney Griner has been in Russian custody since February 2022, and plenty of her fellow athletes are leading the charge to get her back to the United States.Ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals in June 2022, the Boston Celtics wore T-shirts reading “WE ARE BG” during practice. “The shirts were super important not only showing our support for our sister that is detained over in Russia, Brittney Griner, we just wanted to show that togetherness and love that we have throughout not only the NBA but the WNBA,” player Grant Williams told ESPN of the team’s decision to wear the shirts. “She’s been a vital part of the WNBA over years past, college and in the amount of impact she’s had on young female athletes, USA and overseas.”LeBron James also called for swifter action on the Olympic gold medalist’s case, sharing a social media post from his Uninterrupted platform encouraging President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to keep pushing for Griner’s return.“We need to come together and help do whatever we possibly can to bring BG home quickly and safely!!” the Space Jam: A New Legacy star tweeted in June 2022. “Our voice as athletes is stronger together.”Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February 2022 while she was in the country playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg during the WNBA off-season.
Russian authorities claimed that the athlete was carrying hashish oil in her luggage. News of her arrest and subsequent detention, however, did not emerge for several weeks.U.S.
officials were initially hesitant to make any aggressive moves on behalf of Griner because of Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, but in May 2022, the State Department declared that the Phoenix Mercury player had
Read more on usmagazine.com
