Brittney Griner’s family has finally spoken and touched on why they think the media isn’t treating her Russian imprisonment as a big deal. According to Griner’s family via ESPN’s investigative reporter T.J. Quinn, they aren’t happy about “how some stories have framed her case as a men’s vs. women’s sports issue.”
Quinn’s tweet read:
“There have been a lot of stories asking why Griner’s predicament isn’t a bigger deal and pointing out the inequities between men’s and women’s sports. The people around her say those are great points, but… not right now. Every time the heat gets turned up, they cringe.”
Here is more on Griner’s Russian arrest from TPS:
Brittney Griner’s arrest in Russia should be turning the sports world upside down, but the outrage over it lasted all of one day.
Griner was detained in February at a Moscow airport for allegedly carrying vape cartridges that Russian officials claimed had oils derived from cannabis in them. The arrest wasn’t reported until last weekend and her booking photo did not come out until much later after that.
Releasing Griner is the last thing on the mind of Russia officials as the country is currently invading Ukraine in an effort to try and take it over.
Griner, who plays in the WNBA for the Phoenix Mercury, plays overseas every offseason to make way more money than she does in the States. It’s something many of the WNBA stars have been doing for years.
She’s played for UMMC Ekaterinburg for about seven years alongside other American women’s basketball stars. She earns more than $1 million playing overseas – quadruple what she and some other top WNBA stars make as a base salary.
No one knows where Griner is being held and when she possibly could get released. She is looking at 20 years in jail if convicted on all charges.
Flip to the next page to see what the family is thinking.
