Hours before the start of the WNBA draft, league commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke to reporters and addressed the Brittney Griner situation, saying the WNBA was working with “everybody in our ecosystem” to ensure Griner’s safe return from Russia.
Griner has been detained in the country since February after being stopped and searched at the airport, where officials discovered vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.
“We continue to be working diligently on bringing Brittney Griner home,” Engelbert said. “This is an unimaginable situation for (Griner) to be in … Certainly we’re trying everything that we can, every angle, working through with her legal representation, her agent, elected leaders, the administration, just everybody in our ecosystem to try and find ways to get her home safely and as quickly as we can.”
While Griner was arrested in February, public knowledge of her arrest did not surface until early March after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and when sanctions were already underway against the country.
According to ESPN, Griner could face a possible sentence of five to 10 years in prison. The 31-year-old has had limited contact with the outside world and the handful of times she’s been seen publicly were via Russian State TV, when it released a picture of Griner, and a video of customs going through her baggage surfaced.
During Engelbert’s media session, she was asked about her views on WNBA players playing in leagues overseas in light of Griner’s situation, and expressed her desire for her players to continue pursuing opportunities in countries abroad.
“I think players have a lot of options … I never want to shut the door on the opportunity for players to be able to make more money or build their brand globally,” Engelbert said. “I think that’s how the NBA became such a global league, and they’ve done such a great job of now bringing in a lot of players outside the U.S. to play in the league. I want to globalize the nature of our rosters as well. I think the strength of the game globally is really important to me.”
With Griner’s status still unresolved, the Mercury will reportedly get “roster relief” from the league, according to ESPN’s Holly Rowe, though Griner will not be suspended and will receive her full salary for this season.
Engelbert declined to go into specifics about what role the WNBA has played in working toward Griner’s eventual return, but said the league has been in regular contact with various diplomatic and legal entities to ensure Griner’s return “safely but as soon as we possibly can.”
“Obviously, we’re in a very complex geopolitical situation with Russia, Ukraine, so this continues to be complex,” Engelbert said. “We’re getting a ton of support from the government, from specialists. Her representation is able to visit with Brittney, we know she’s safe, but we want to get her home. It’s just a very complex situation right now and we’re following all the advice.”
