Recently released Brittney Griner has broken her silence after returning to the United States, and has confirmed that she intends to continue her career with WNBA side Phoenix Mercury this season.
Griner has finally been freed from a Russian prison after President Joe Biden sent notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout the other way, ending her terrifying ordeal that has been ongoing since February. Griner was detained in February after she was accused of bringing cannabis oil in her luggage to a Moscow airport.
The WNBA star was sentenced to nine years and denied a later appeal in Russia, but has been freed and is back on US soil after ten months. Griner has now taken to Instagram to offer her first public statement, and intends to return to Mercury.
"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.
"I am grateful to each person who advocated for me, especially my wife, Cherelle Griner, my family, Lindsay Kagawa Colas and Casey Wasserman and my whole team at Wasserman, 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.
"President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too. 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.
"As I transition home to enjoy the holidays with my family, I want to acknowledge and thank the entire PISA staff and medical team at the San Antonio Fort Hood Base. I appreciate the time and care to make sure I was okay and equipped with the tools for this new journey.
"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."
The 2023 WNBA season begins in May and comes to a halt in September. Mercury have won three Championships but lost the final in 2021, and Griner will be as eager as ever to bounce back.
