Dennis Rodman, the eccentric former NBA icon, has said he plans to jet out to Russia to plead for the release of Brittney Griner, the American women’s basketball star imprisoned on dubious drug trafficking charges after her arrest just days before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
Ms Griner, 31, was arrested at a Moscow airport in February after being found in possession of marijuana oil for a vape pen, which is illegal in Russia and has seen her sentenced to nine years behind bars, although the US has argued her detention is a politically-motivated response to the sanctions imposed on the country over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the neighbouring sovereign state.
