Brittney Griner is free. The 32-year-old American basketball player and WNBA star was released from Russia after about 9 months in prison. The athlete, CNN reports, was released as part of an agreement that led to the release by the Americans of
Viktor Bout, arms dealer who was supposed to serve a 25-year sentence in the US. Griner was arrested in Moscow in February: she was at the airport, as she was preparing to leave Russia, she was found in possession of hashish oil and arrested on drug trafficking charges. The trial ended in August with a nine-year prison sentence. The negotiations on the Washington-Moscow axis led today to the white smoke with the release of the athlete, one of the best-known faces of the stars and stripes basketball. Griner showed all her talent already in college, rewriting records at Baylor University and leading the team to the NCAA title in 2012. In her college career she also collected individual awards: twice she was NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player and twice several times she was awarded the Naismith College Player of the Year award.
In the women’s version of the NBA, Griner won the title with the Phoenix Mercury in 2014. Among the pros, she confirmed herself as a top-level center on both sides of the court. In two seasons (2014 and 2015) she was the best defender of the year, 3 times she was part of the ideal quintet of the league and in 2 seasons (2017 and 2019) she was the best scorer. No player has had more blocks in 8 seasons. Like many WNBA stars, American careers combine with FIBA-area club careers when the season in the United States concludes. From 2013 to 2015 Griner played in China between Zhejiang and Beijing. From 2015 to 2022, however, you played in Russia with Yekaterinburg.
