Brittney Griner has released her first statement since being released from a Russian prison earlier this month. The WNBA star was swapped for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout on Dec. 8.
“It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn,” Griner wrote on Instagram. “I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.”
She continued, “I am grateful to each person who advocated for me, especially my wife, Cherelle Griner, my family, [my agents] Lindsay Kagawa Colas and Casey Wasserman and my whole team at Wasserman, [Phoenix Mercury president] Vince Kozar and the Phoenix Mercury, the players of the WNBA, and my entire WNBA family, Terri Jackson and the WNBPA staff, my Russian legal team Maria Blagovolina and Alex Boykov, the leaders, activists, and grassroots organizations, Gov. Richardson and Mickey Bergman of the Richardson Center, the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, Roger Carstens and the SPEHA team, and of course, a special thank you to President Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary Blinken and the entire Biden-Harris Administration.”
The basketball player thanked Biden and encouraged the President to continue his fight to bring Paul Whelan and other imprisoned Americans home.
“President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too,” she wrote. “I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you. I also encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home. Every family deserves to be whole.”
Griner also confirmed she intends to join the Pheonix Mercury on the court for the upcoming WNBA season.
“I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon,” she wrote.
Griner had been in Russian custody since February after authorities found vaping cartridges containing hashish oil, an illegal substance in Russia, in her luggage. She pleaded guilty in July and received a nine-year sentence.
The US had been negotiating a prison swap for months, and on December 8, it was announced that Griner was on her way back home to the US to be with her family.
Welcome home, BG.
