Stephen Curry Honors 'Wrongfully Incarcerated' Brittney Griner During Warriors Ring Ceremony

Natasha Dye
·2 min read
11
Stephen Curry attends the 2022 ESPYs at Dolby Theatre on July 20, 2022 in Hollywood, California.
Stephen Curry attends the 2022 ESPYs at Dolby Theatre on July 20, 2022 in Hollywood, California.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Momodu Mansaray/WireImage

As Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors unveiled their fourth championship banner together on Tuesday night, the point guard turned the attention to Brittney Griner.

"We want to continue to use our platform and the opportunity to shout out a very special member of the basketball community," Curry announced from the floor at San Francisco's Chase Center.

The 2022 Finals MVP continued, "Brittney Griner's birthday is today, she's 32 years old."

"We want to continue to let her name be known and we pray," he said, before reminding Warriors fans that, "It's been 243 days since she has been wrongfully incarcerated in Russia."

Curry added: "We hope that she comes home soon and everybody's doing their part to get her home."

RELATED: Brittney Griner Turns 32 Years Old in Russian Prison

Griner, who was arrested in an airport near Moscow on February 17, spent her 32nd birthday in Russian prison.

"It was an unusual birthday today," Maria Blagovolina, one of Griner's lawyers and a partner at Rybalkin Gortsunyan Dyakin and Partners, told PEOPLE on Tuesday.

Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, who also represents Griner, visited her in prison on Tuesday.

Griner is "very strong" says Blagovolina, before adding that Tuesday was "of course a difficult day for her, you can imagine because she is all alone in a jail in a foreign country."

US' Women's National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player Brittney Griner (C), who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, shakes hands with her lawyer Alexander Boykov (R) next to Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Moscow Elizabeth Rood (L) before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022. - Lawyers for US basketball star Brittney Griner, who is standing trial in Russia on drug charges, said on July 26, 2022 they hoped she would receive a "lenient" sentence.

EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/POOL/AFP via Getty Brittney Griner shakes hands with her lawyer Alexander Boykov

RELATED: Brittney Griner's 32nd Birthday in Russian Prison Was a 'Difficult Day,' Her Lawyers Say

Griner's lawyers delivered her numerous letters of support during their visit. "We brought her a lot of letters, birthday messages from all over the world, from her family, from friends, her team; and that was very important for her."

Griner's lawyers say she "very much appreciates the support and love she's been getting," and was "really happy to receive" the letters. "She feels the support. So this was good."

RELATED VIDEO: Brittney Griner's Wife Cherelle Speaks Out on WNBA Star's 9-Year Sentence: 'It Terrifies Me'

They had trouble guessing the exact number of letters Griner received, from "both athletes and regular people all around the world" because, her lawyers say, "we're still getting them. Many, many, many."

Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison on Aug. 4 on charges of smuggling drugs into the country, just below the maximum sentence of 10 years.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

After the trial, Blagovolina had said the sentence was "absolutely unreasonable." The athlete's lawyers filed an appeal, and hearings for that will begin Oct. 25.