Recently released, Brittney Griner posted a heartfelt statement to Instagram yesterday, December 16. She took the time to thank everyone who fought for her to get home and told her supporters that she would be returning to playing basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this upcoming season. Griner was brought home after being detained for over ten months under negotiations that resulted in a prisoner swap with Russia.
Griner wrote, “It feels so good to be home! The last ten months have been a battle at every turn. I dug deep to keep my faith, and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.”
She continued to list some of her biggest supporters that got her through her time in Russian detainment. “I am grateful to each person who advocated for me, especially my wife, Cherelle Griner, my family, Lindsay Kagawa Colas and Casey Wasserman and my whole team at Wasserman,” She named her legal team and WNBA family, as well as giving “a special thank you to President Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary Blinken and the entire Biden-Harris Administration. “President Biden, you brought me home, and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too,” The WNBA player promised that she would use her platform to advocate for those who needed it, as others had for her.
“I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you. I also encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home. Every family deserves to be whole.”
As well as talking about how grateful she was to be home for the holidays, she made it clear that she wholly intends to return to the basketball court for the 2023 season with her team.
“I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon,” Griner finished.
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