As Griner Trial Unfolds, WNBA Strengthens Its Support For Her Quick Return
Friday, July 8, 2022 at 03:43PM By Barry Janoff
July 8, 2022: With the WNBA All-Star Game July 10 in Chicago (ABC), the league is using the nationally televised spotlight to strengthen its support for the safe return of Brittney Griner.
Griner remains in prison in Russia, where she has been detained since February.
Griner was named to her eighth WNBA All-Star Game, as selected by commissioner Cathy Engelbert, and was chosen as an honorary starter.
Her initials have been on WNBA courts this season, including All-Star Game host Chicago Sky.
“We Are BG!” rallies and press events are planned in conjunction with WNBA All-Star Game weekend to include league officials, players and community leaders urging for her return,
On July 7, Griner pleaded guilty to drug possession and smuggling during her court hearing in Moscow but said she had no intention of committing a crime, according to AP Sports.
The report said Griner, through an interpreter, told the court she had acted unintentionally because she was packing in haste.
Police at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage.
The hearing came a day after President Joe Biden spoke with the wife of Griner, Cherelle Griner, “to reassure her that he is working to win Griner’s freedom as soon as possible,” according to AP Sports.
“Brittney Griner remains wrongfully detained in Russia and nothing that happened today changes that 140 days later,” Englebert said via the league.
“The WNBA continues to work diligently with the U.S. State Department, the White House, and other allies in and outside government to get Brittney home safely and as soon as possible." 
According to Englebert, “She has the wholehearted and unconditional support of the entire WNBA and NBA family, who eagerly await her safe return, and the league will recognize BG as an honorary starter at this weekend’s WNBA All-Star Game.”
“The WNBPA stands with Brittney Griner,” WNBA Players Assn. executive director Terri Jackson said via the organization.
“With a 99% conviction rate, Russia’s process is its own. You can’t navigate it or even understand it like our own legal system. What we do know is that the U.S. State Department determined that Brittney Griner was wrongfully detained for a reason and we’ll leave it at that.”
The WNBA Phoenix Mercury, Griner’s team, held a special public rally on July 6 in support of Griner in coordination with the Office of Congressman Greg Stanton of Arizona, in Footprint Center.
The rally “advocated for the immediate and safe return of Mercury star Brittney Griner, and for all government and non-government agencies involved to do everything in their power to bring an end to her wrongful detention in Russia,” where she has been held since February.
Stanton, former Mayor of Phoenix and longtime Mercury season ticket member, introduced a resolution calling for Griner’s immediate release that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week.
Some 300,000 supporters have signed a Change.org petition for Brittney to be released, according to the organization, “calling for President Biden to get a deal done to bring her home swiftly and safely.”
The petition, initiated by sports journalist Tamryn Spruill on March 5 and in partnership since May 14 with the WNBPA, has been featured on social media and news broadcasts.
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