WNBA Star Brittney Griner Considered ‘Wrongfully Detained’ by Russia, Report Says

Update: May 3, 2022 at 1 p.m. ET Seven-time WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner, who has been locked up in Russia on drug charges, is considered to be wrongfully detained by the Russian government, according to an ESPN report. According to the ESPN report, the designation change means the U.S. government will no longer wait for the case to play out through the Russian legal system and it will seek to negotiate her return. What’s more, the report stated WNBA players and supporters in Congress will be told they have the Griner family’s blessing to bring attention to her case. (According to the report, Griner’s legal team has followed State Department advice to keep a low profile in order to not make her a more valuable asset to Vladimir Putin’s government.) The ESPN report also stated that Bill Richardson, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who has worked privately as an international hostage negotiator, has agreed to work on Griner’s case. A New York Times report surfaced in March that Griner — the Phoenix Mercury center who plays for the Russian women’s basketball team UMMC Ekaterinburg in the WNBA offseason — had been detained by Russian Federal Customs Service officials after they found vape

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