Britney Griner says she plans to play this season
The Houston native and WNBA star released a new statement on his Instagram account after leaving a military base in San Antonio.
Houston — WNBA star from Houston Britney Griner Said she is going to play basketball for Phoenix Mercury This season, a week after she returned from Russia, where she had been held since February.
Griner released a new statement about her Friday morning Instagram account We thank all those responsible for bringing her home and treating her while she was at the San Antonio military installation. swore to come Paul Whelan Some have returned from detention abroad.
Click here for Greeners complete statement under:
“It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who took care of me.
“Everyone who has stood up for me, especially my wife Sherrell Griner, my family, the Lindsey Kagawa Chorus and Casey Wasserman, the entire Wasserman team, Vince Coser and Phoenix Mercury, the WNBA. Players, and my entire WNBA family, Terry Jackson and WNBPA staff, my Russian legal team, Maria Blagovorina and Alex Boykov, leaders, activists, grassroots organizations, Governor Richardson and the Richardson Center. A special thank you to Mickey Bergman of , the Bring Families Home campaign, the Roger Carstens SPEHA team, and of course, President Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary Blinken, and the entire Biden-Harris administration.
“President Biden, you brought me home. I know you promised to bring Paul Whelan and all Americans home. I will use the platform to do everything I can to help you. Every family deserves perfection.
“As I return home to enjoy my vacation with my family, I would like to thank and thank all of the PISA staff and medical team at Base San Antonio Fort Hood. Thank you for taking the time and care to make sure.
“Also, one thing I would like to clarify is that I will be playing basketball for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA this season. In doing so, I will be able to say ‘thank you’ to those who have endorsed and written looking forward to Posted directly for me soon.
“Love is always, BG #42”
Greiner returns from Russia
As soon as Griner boarded the U.S. government flight home, he didn’t want any alone time.
“I’ve been in prison for 10 months listening to Russian. I want to talk,” Griner said.Roger Carstens, the President’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, secured the basketball star’s release last week and sent her to the United States. helped bring me back to
She then asked Carstens, referring to other people on the plane.
“And she passed by me, went to the whole crew, looked them in the eye, shook their hands, asked about them, heard their names and made a personal connection with them. ‘” Karstens recalled in an interview with CNN.The state of the union. “It was really great.”
Ultimately, Griner spent about 12 hours of the 18-hour flight talking to other people on board, Carstens said. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and Phoenix her Mercury pro her basketball star has spoken out about her time in a Russian penal colony and months in captivity, Carstens said. I recall, but didn’t go into specific details.
“He struck me as intelligent, passionate, caring, humble, interesting and patriotic,” said Carstens. “But most of all, he’s real. I hate having to see her like this, but he’s really glad he got to know her.”
Griner had undergone a full medical and psychiatric evaluation, but Carstens said she was “full of energy and looked great.”
Griner, who also played professional basketball in Russia, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in February after Russian authorities said he was carrying a vape canister containing cannabis oil. He declared he was “unjustly detained”, a claim Russia categorically denies.
President Joe Biden announced on December 8 that the United States had secured Griner’s release. In exchange, the regime offered Russia the release of notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout. He was serving a 25-year sentence for conspiring to sell tens of millions of dollars worth of weapons that U.S. officials said would be used against Americans.
But the United States was unable to secure the freedom of Paul Whelan, who has been held in Russia for nearly four years. Administration officials have repeatedly emphasized They’re still working to free Whelanwas imprisoned by Russian authorities on espionage charges that both his family and the U.S. government say are unfounded.
“They see Mr. Whelan differently because of these espionage charges,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday. “So we’re working through it now. We’ve been through this process over the past few months, so we’re getting more informed. We’re getting more informed.” We have a better sense of the context here, where the Russian expectations are, and we will continue to work on that.”
Carstens, the U.S. government’s chief hostage negotiator, said there was “always the card” to secure Whelan’s offer, and spoke with the incarcerated American on December 9.
“Here’s what I said to him. I said, ‘Paul, you have this presidential commitment. The president is focused. The secretary of state is focused. ‘And I reminded him, ‘Paul, when you were in the Marines and I was in the Army, they always wanted you. to keep the faith.’ And I said, ‘Keep the faith, we are coming for you.
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/brittney-griner-phoenix-mercury/285-460ddd1a-5ae7-4018-9fd6-d2a5324041c0 Britney Griner says she plans to play this season