Brittney Griner continues her efforts to establish a normal routine following her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago.
Life isn’t what it used to be for the perennial WNBA All-Star.
The 6-foot-1 center looks different and has different priorities. Gone are his familiar dreadlocks that could not be maintained during his incarceration. She regularly sees a therapist to help her cope after being locked up for 10 months. And since her release, Griner has advocated for the return of other Americans detained abroad.
She has met with President Joe Biden twice since her release, including once last month in Phoenix.
“I have to talk to him about some people and keep that in the back of everyone’s mind,” the Phoenix Mercury star said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “You want to get exposure and this keeps it in people’s minds. Hold people accountable.”
Griner was detained at a Moscow airport in February 2022. Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis-derived oil.
She shares details about the harrowing experience in her new book – “Coming Home” – which will be released on Tuesday.
Griner hopes that a lesson for anyone who reads the book will be a vivid picture of what detainees have to endure. She said that’s why it took all of last season to write it with Michelle Burford.
“I left nothing out of detention, of being there, of the conditions. As much as we could fit into a book, we basically did,” Griner said. “People will be shocked by some things.
“I hope this brings a little more understanding to the conditions detainees go through.”
Griner says it’s important for people to have a clear idea of what the situation is like for Americans who aren’t yet home, including Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, so that no one gives up the fight.
“It took everyone coming together to bring me home,” she said. Government officials “have to make really difficult decisions.”
Griner, who met President Biden at the 2023 White House Correspondent’s Dinner a few months after her return to the United States, said she and her WNBA teammates must maintain the momentum to get everyone home.
“How are we going to do this? Bring families in, play videos, give them airtime?” she said. “Maybe someone who doesn’t know will see (the book) and write a letter to Congress that tips the scales to bring someone home.”
Griner said her days of playing basketball overseas during the WNBA off-season are over.
While many WNBA players still play in international leagues to supplement their league salaries, Griner said that is over except for USA Basketball. She hopes to make the Olympic team at the Paris Games this summer, and the odds of that happening are in her favor.
Griner played in China for a few years during the WNBA offseason before moving to Russia — where she had been playing since 2015 before she was arrested.
But it’s not just her ordeal in Russia that will keep her home. Griner’s wife, Cherelle, is expecting the couple’s first child.
“The only time I will go overseas will be with Team USA,” Griner said. “I need to be in the states. About to be a father. The last thing I want is to be in and out of my child’s life. I want to be there for everything. I don’t want to uproot my family and take them abroad with me. Is very.”
Griner, who has been a mental health advocate for the past decade, said she sees a therapist regularly — something she did for several years before going to Russia — and that it helps her process what she suffered while in prison.
“They are critical to my mental health,” Griner said of her sessions. “Everyone can benefit from having someone to talk to. Someone outside of your everyday life. It just helps to have a different perspective on life than someone else.
“That way, if you feel nervous or struggling with something, it’s very beneficial.”
The 33-year-old took a mental health break for several days last year during the WNBA season, missing three games. She will begin her 12th year in the league on May 14.
Griner is looking forward to it after the welcome she received upon her return last year. One of the only positives Griner will take away from her ordeal was the outpouring of support she received from people in the form of letters they wrote to her in prison.
“The letters were amazing from fans, teammates, opponents, GMs, they all meant so much to me,” she said. “Sometimes it was very dark, especially during the trial. When I was isolated for weeks, it was an emotional rollercoaster and those letters reminded me that I am not forgotten.”
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