Last year, WNBA star Brittney Griner was convicted and given a shocking nine-year prison sentence in a high-security Russian penal colony where she faced unbelievably harsh and unjust conditions. While she did have prescription cannabis in her possession, it was clear that was nothing more than a political pawn in a trial that was widely considered a sham – and Russia even admitted it.
After nearly 10 months in Russian custody, Brittney Griner was finally released last month as part of a prisoner swap that sent convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout back to Russia. And after her difficult and trying year, Griner has been given quite a high honor as the Arizona Republic has named Griner the “Arizonan of the Year.”
“Today we name Brittney Griner ‘Arizonan of the Year’ because no other Arizona newsmaker in 2022 captured the public eye as intensely as she did. Nor has anyone’s story in this state aroused the kind of fear and foreboding that hers had for nearly 300 days,” the outlet said on Sunday.
After a brief stay on a military base after her return to the United States, Griner has returned to her home in Arizona with her wife and plans to play for the Phoenix Mercury this year.
