Griner Gets 9-Year Sentence
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Reuters VideosCoach Hammon urges Putin to free Brittney GrinerSTORY: Hammon: “The time that she served over there, enough’s enough.” In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Becky Hammon, current head coach for the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, and a six-time league all-star player who once represented Russia at the Olympics has made a plea for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “do the right thing” and quickly release American star player Brittney Griner. Hammon: “…you know, so many players have gone over to Russia, including myself. Russia’s been very good to us as athletes. So to see, you know, Britney being detained, like I said, it’s upsetting…I just ask the Russian government to do the right thing. It’s never too late to do the right thing. And I think at this point, like I said, whether she did or didn’t, it’s time to send her home.”Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and center for WNBA team Phoenix Mercury , was detained in Moscow when agents found vape cartridges containing cann abis oil in her luggage on Feb. 17. Her arrest came days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thrusting Griner into the center of a geopolitical tussle. Hammon played during the off-season for several Russian teams, a common move for WNBA players seeking to supplement incomes that are lower than their male counterparts’. Hammon: “It’s hard to imagine, though, that if this was, you know, LeBron James, that he’d still be sitting over there in a jail cell . Maybe he could be. Maybe not. I don’t know. But it’s hard not to let your mind go there.”Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States made a “substantial offer” to Russia to release Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, whom the United States also considers to be wrongfully detained in Russia. A source said that Washington was willing to exchange convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death.” Moscow has said no deal has yet been done. Griner – who pled guilty to all cha rges- is expected to return to a Russian court on Thursday for closing arguments in her trial. She faces up to 10 years in prison. Hammon: “There’s worry anyways when people are overseas, you know, when you’re separated from your family . Now you add in everything that’s going on politically. You factor in the war that’s going on. It just heightens all the anxieties and all the fears.”
