WNBA superstar Brittney Griner spent most of last year in Russian custody after she was arrested and charged with drug possession after authorities found small amounts of prescription cannabis oil in her luggage and sentenced her to nine years in a penal colony. For that reason, it sounds like she’ll be limiting her international travel in the future.
Brittney Griner initially chose to play in Russia during the WNBA offseason to make extra money due to the relatively small WNBA contracts. During her first press conference with the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday afternoon, Griner was asked if she would consider playing overseas again, and she had a pretty blunt response.
“I’m never going overseas to play again unless I’m representing my country at the Olympics. If I make that team, that would be the only time I’d leave U.S. soil. And that’s just to represent the USA,” Griner said.
Brittney Griner on whether she plans to go overseas to play basketball in the future:
“I’m never going overseas to play again unless I’m representing my country at the Olympics.” pic.twitter.com/ZUI2LFi0yX
— Khristina Williams (@Khristina) April 27, 2023
It’s a pretty clear message that’s certainly understandable, given what happened last time. And her reaction has since gone viral on social media.
Kudos to BG for handling that question professionally.
I would've side-eyed the hell out of that reporter 😭 what kinda question… https://t.co/HjqIfuQ4tX
— Che Renay, M.A. (@juicypop__) April 27, 2023
https://twitter.com/RayTheGrouch/status/1651647423536590848?s=20
https://twitter.com/lexnthecityyy/status/1651646470641033237?s=20
Some lessons are learned the hard way. Any US citizen leaving US soil runs a huge risk. https://t.co/Uca4NiUFtr
— Aeron (@TexasLucha) April 27, 2023
https://twitter.com/smb___15/status/1651640786784493570?s=20
Griner hopes that one day WNBA players are compensated well enough that they don’t have to go overseas for more money.
“I’ll say this, the whole reason a lot of us go over is the pay gap,” Griner said. “A lot of us go over to make an income to support our families – to support ourselves. So I don’t knock any player that wants to go overseas and make a little bit of extra money. I’m hoping that our league continues to grow.”
