CHICAGO – Brittney Griner’s fellow WNBA players honored her at the All-Star Game in Chicago on Sunday, wearing jerseys with her name and number for the second half.
Griner, who played for Phoenix Mercury since 2013, has been detained in Russia since February on suspicion of drugs. On Sunday, with Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, sitting on the courtside, the All-Stars lined up after halftime in matching No. 42 jerseys with “Griner” on the back.
Several players hugged Cherelle Griner, who said during the ESPN broadcast that she was grateful that they had not forgotten her wife.
A’ja Wilson, a Las Vegas Aces forward who was one of the team captains, said wearing the jerseys was “a statement in itself.”
“We’re not going to stop until everyone understands how serious this really is,” she said.
Griner, a seven-time All-Star who won a championship with the Mercury in 2014 and has two Olympic gold medals, was also named an honorary starter for the game by the league.
Griner was in Russia playing for UMMC Yekaterinburg, a professional team, when she was accused of having hash oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. She pleaded guilty to the drug charges last week, but has not been formally convicted. She faces up to 10 years in a penal colony.
The US State Department has said Griner was “unjustly detained” and that it would work to secure her release.
On Sunday, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said at a news conference that Griner’s situation had influenced players’ decisions about the international game. Several players who usually play in Russia have signed with teams in other countries for the upcoming off-season.
“We’re not going to say you can’t play abroad,” Engelbert said.
WNBA players are free to play abroad but can be fined if they show up late to training camp or early in the season – a common occurrence due to the international schedule. Starting next year, players can be banned from league games if they don’t return before the start of the WNBA season.
The league and teams also offer incentives to encourage players to stay in the United States, such as marketing deals and bonuses. Engelbert said the league planned to spend $1.5 million on player marketing deals this cycle, up several hundred thousand dollars from the last cycle.