WNBA Star Brittney Griner Responds To Letters In Russian Jail

The Phoenix Mercury WNBA star Brittney Griner may not be able to see or play with her WNBA fam, but she can respond to the hundreds of emails and letters she receives.

Griner’s agent has set up a way for the athlete to receive supportive messages from her team in efforts of communication, so she doesn’t feel forgotten. Though the prison has allowed the letters, it’s not that easy for her to respond to them since everything is monitored.

Once Russian officials review the letters and emails, they are delivered to the Olympian from her attorney. The emails are printed out and then delivered sporadically. To respond, though, she writes her response, not having access to the email account, then her lawyers take a photo and send it.

Los Angeles Sparks forward Amanda Zahui B. received a response from the player and was shocked.

“When she responded to my second letter, it blew me away. I was like, ‘She responded!!’ In my third letter, I was like, ‘Hey best friend, we are officially best friends now,” Zahui B. said.

Zahui B. said she wanted Griner to know that she was thinking about her, like all WNBA players who continue writing to her. She tries to write to her every few weeks.

Griner has been detained for 105 days after vape cartridges were found in her luggage at the Moscow airport. The center player usually plays in Russia overseas because, in the U.S., she doesn’t make enough being a WNBA player.

Zahui B. says she jokes in the letters, which is shocking due to her detainment. “She jokes in her letters. I don’t know how she does it with what she’s going through. She’s an amazing soul. She brings light to a situation like this. I don’t think many people could manage to do that.”

If Griner is convicted, she faces a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Biden’s administration has made it clear that she was detained for the wrong reasons and even suggested it’s political.