That’s how long Brittney Griner has been behind bars in Russia. For so long he has been stuck in the middle of a high-stakes standoff between the United States and Russia at just the wrong time, as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia continues his horrific invasion of Ukraine and echoes the return of the Cold War. One hundred and forty one days. For so long Griner has been in limbo. What terrible uncertainty and fear he must feel, facing a decade in a Russian prison if convicted. Griner captured that emotion in her recent letter to President Biden. “I’m afraid I might be here forever,” he wrote. He added: “Please don’t forget me.” The seven-time All-Star center for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury pleaded guilty Thursday, admitting he was wrong. With that said, Griner and her attorney said her troubles began with a mistake: She was quickly packing for her flight to Russia in February and accidentally packed her smoking cartridges with small amounts of hashish oil — less than a gram, according to with prosecutors. He said he had no intention of violating Russian law. Experts say a guilty verdict was a foregone conclusion in a Russian legal system that was completely stacked against defendants. Griner may have chosen not to fight a battle she couldn’t win, helping her case end. We don’t know right now. Teammates, supporters and the Mercury center’s wife, Cherelle Griner, have not been able to speak with her directly. With the war in Ukraine, the only we’ve seen or heard of Griner in America has been appearances in a Moscow courtroom, where she attended in handcuffs. Uncertainty and complication hang over this sinister case. Russian media have claimed that talks on a possible prisoner exchange are already underway, although US officials have not confirmed this. A swap would include Russian national Viktor Bout, who has been imprisoned in the United States since 2012 on a 25-year sentence for conspiring to sell weapons to people who said they planned to kill Americans. During his sentencing, prosecutors described Bout as “one of the most successful and sophisticated arms traffickers in the world.” He is known as the Merchant of Death. This one-sided prospective deal shows the difficulty of negotiating Griner’s release. Would it be a balanced exchange to trade a basketball star who smuggled hashish oil into Russia for a man convicted of participating in an international conspiracy against Americans? Paul Whelan, another American held in Russia, has served two years of a 16-year sentence on espionage charges he has denied. Is it fair to push for Griner’s release before Whelan? Should the United States negotiate to be included in an agreement, even if doing so delays the releases of both? Further complicating matters are issues of race, gender, and sexuality. Griner is tattooed, dreadlocked, black and three inches shy of 7 feet tall. Does not conform to widely accepted gender stereotypes. She is married to a woman and is an outspoken LGBTQ activist. Putin has a well-documented disdain for LGBTQ people, which only heightens her supporters’ fears for her well-being. Her looks, sexuality and outspokenness mean that contempt for Griner is equally thick in some parts of the United States. This makes it fair to wonder whether the outrage from American citizens would have been stronger and more widespread had Griner been a male sports star who fit a traditionally accepted role. “If it was LeBron, he’d be home, right?” said Vanessa Nygaard, Griner’s trainer with the Mercury. “It’s a statement about the value of women. It is a statement about the worth of a black person. It’s a statement about the value of being gay.” Nygaard may be right. Male athletes are the beneficiaries of a sports ecosystem in which their championships garner more television time, their endorsements bring in more money, and their achievements are lauded louder. If it were James in custody — or Stephen Curry or Tom Brady — it stands to reason that their notoriety would prompt a more fervent mainstream call for release than it did in Griner’s case. UPDATED July 8, 2022, 6:18 pm ET On the other hand, imagine what Russia would demand in return for LeBron James: The ransom would likely far exceed an arms dealer languishing in an American prison, especially given the tension between Biden and Putin. If this was James in custody, well, a lot more than a few hundred people would have turned up at the rally for his release. On Wednesday, about 300 people gathered at the Mercury arena, Phoenix’s Footprint Center, to show their support for Griner. The building has a capacity of 17,000 seats. I visited the arena in April for a Mercury preseason game and was surprised by the quiet recognition of Griner in a city where she has given so much. Known as BG, she helped lead the Mercury to a WNBA title in 2014, but is admired as much for helping the homeless and advocating for LGBTQ rights. The local sports radio announcers barely mentioned her, instead going on about the Phoenix Suns’ NBA playoff run. At the time, Griner’s Mercury teammates followed the lead of her advisers, who decided to keep a low profile and not cause a stir that might anger Putin. It was clear that the players wanted to be more honest. As they talked about how much they loved their teammate and followed the advice, the ferocity and pain in their eyes told me they wanted to say more. The approach was reversed a few weeks later, when the US State Department said Griner had been “wronged in custody”. The league and its players began to roar — just as they often do about pressing social issues. Teams paid tribute to Griner by emblazoning her initials on home fields throughout the league. Through social media, in press conferences and interviews, the players asked Biden and the White House to do whatever it took to bring her home. “Free BG,” said DeWanna Bonner, of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, speaking to the press. “We are BG We love BG Free her”. The NBA also joined the chorus. Players wore “We are BG” T-shirts to practices held during the NBA Finals. James, Curry and many other stars have spoken out, demanding her release. Athletes from other sports participated. After Griner’s guilty plea Thursday, Megan Rapinoe, the outspoken star of the U.S. women’s soccer team, wore a white jacket with Griner’s initials stitched into the lapel as she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. What a rollercoaster of strategy and emotion. Thursday’s hearing brought another chilling twist, seeing Griner there in court, begging for mercy. “This situation with BG, it’s tough for everybody on our team,” Nygaard said before Thursday night’s home game against the Liberty. The hearing process and the admission of guilt. The images of Griner, hands tied, eyes open, surrounded by Russian police. “When your friend is in danger,” Nygaard added, and that friend says “they’re scared, it’s hard to get away from those things.” One hundred and forty one days and counting. Brittney Griner is away from home and we don’t know when she will be released.
