It’s been eight months since WNBA star Brittney Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport, and one NBA superstar wants to make sure she hasn’t been forgotten.
Steph Curry took a moment Tuesday during the Golden State Warriors’ championship ring-presentation ceremony before their season-opening home game against the Los Angeles Lakers to address the crowd on Griner’s birthday.
“We want to continue to use our platform and the opportunity to shout out a very special member of the basketball community,” he said. “Brittney Griner’s birthday is today, she’s 32 years old. … We want to continue to let her name be known and we pray.”
Griner has been incarcerated in Russia since February 17 — days before Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine — after being arrested for possessing cannabis oil in her luggage. After admitting she “an honest mistake,” the Phoenix Mercury center was convicted of drug smuggling and possession in August and sentenced to nine years in jail, where she remains.
“We hope that she comes home soon, that everybody’s doing their part to get her home,” Curry told the Bay Area crowd, adding that she is being “wrongfully incarcerated in Russia.”
Griner has an appeal hearing this month, and her attorney Maria Blagovolina said in a statement Tuesday: “Today is of course a difficult day for Brittney. Not only this is her birthday in jail away from her family, teammates and friends, but she is very stressed in anticipation of the appeal hearing on 25 October.”
In a statement of her released through lawyers Tuesday, Griner said: “Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home. All the support and love are definitely helping me.”
The Warriors went on to beat the Lakers, 123-109, in the nationally televised season opener.