WNBA Commissioner Says Brittney Griner Is 'Doing Remarkably Well' Since Returning from Russia
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Christian Petersen/Getty Brittney Griner
One year after Brittney Griner was detained in Russia on drug smuggling charges — and two months after she was released in a prisoner swap — WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she was able to meet with the Phoenix Mercury star for the first time.
"I met with her in Phoenix," Engelbert told Poppy Harlow today on CNN This Morning ahead of NBA All-Star Weekend. "Britney is doing remarkably well, and she's starting to train. We're so excited to have her back in the league after an awful ordeal."
WNBA Commissioner @CathyEngelbert joins @PoppyHarlowCNN to talk about Brittney Griner, league expansion ahead of #NBAAllStarWeekend pic.twitter.com/n0lkCXe9NW
— CNN This Morning (@CNNThisMorning) February 17, 2023
Engelbert said that the WNBA waited to meet with the two-time Olympic gold medalist to give her some space after returning from Russia.
"We wanted to give her the holidays to meet with family and friends," Engelbert said. "Just a remarkable experience. She has a remarkable story about what she went through, but we're looking forward to having her back in the W."
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Griner, 32, is looking forward to playing again, Engelbert said, and believes she will return to Phoenix Mercury, the team she has played for since 2013.
"She is an unrestricted free agent currently," Engelbert said. "Presumably she's expressed she wants to play for Phoenix, the Mercury, and we'll see what happens in the next couple weeks or so."
Darryl Webb/AP/Shutterstock Brittney Griner and wife
The 6'9" pro baller is slowly returning to public life since her release from Russia.
On Sunday, Griner was seen rocking a white Philadelphia Eagles No. 12 jersey at the 2023 Super Bowl in her third public outing since her return to the U.S. In a photo shared by the NFL, Brittney was all smiles in her Philly gear sitting alongside her wife, Cherelle Griner, who was also wearing an Eagles jersey.
The sighting came one day after Brittney surprised fans and onlookers at the WM Phoenix Open golf tournament Saturday.
Brittney and Cherelle, 30, previously stepped out for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day march in Phoenix last month. "Glad to be home," she told supporters during the outing.
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Griner was detained in Russia on drug smuggling charges one year ago today for allegedly possessing hash oil in her luggage.
Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison by a Russian judge in August, and started to serve her sentence before President Joe Biden secured a prisoner swap that brought her home in December.
The prisoner swap took place Thursday, Dec. 8. in the United Arab Emirates, 10 months after Brittney was first incarcerated. "It feels so good to be home," she wrote in a heartfelt statement shortly after her release.
"The first night, we didn't sleep at all," Cherelle exclusively told PEOPLE in December, laughing. "We just talked all night long and all morning. And it was so good to be able to do it without three weeks in between the conversation, because for 10 months we were passing letters. It was great to have that dialogue back and forth."
