Brittney Griner is reportedly back on the basketball court for the first time in nearly 10 months after her arrival back in the United States.
The WNBA star was on US soil Friday morning for the first time since her release from a Russian prison in a high-profile exchange for a notorious arms dealer.
He soon found his way back to court following Sunday’s prisoner swap, reports said. ESPN.
Brittney Griner (left – when she was traded for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout and right playing for the Phoenix Mercury in 2021 before her arrest in February) was reportedly taken to the basketball court for the first time in nearly 10 months after his return to the United States
Griner is at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio and has been doing a light workout, his agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas told the outlet.
The 32-year-old was said to be wearing a Title IX t-shirt, Phoenix Suns shorts and Chuck Taylor sneakers as he scored a slam dunk in one of his first casual practice moves.
Griner belonged to the Phoenix franchise, representing the Mercury team before being arrested in Russia in February on drug charges.
His future with the team remains up in the air after a 10-month prison sentence.
‘If he wants to play, it’s for him to share. He has the holidays to rest and decide what’s next without any pressure,’ Colas told ESPN.
‘She’s doing really, really well. He seems to have endured it in an incredible way.’
Griner also reportedly got a haircut by the San Antonio Spurs barber Sunday morning after being forced to cut off his dreads in Russia.
The WNBA star was traded for ‘Merchant of Death’ Viktor Bout, 55 – who is serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison – ending what President Joe Biden called a month of ‘hell’ for him and the His wife.
Griner was seen getting off a plane that landed Friday at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas, after flying from the UAE where the prisoner trade took place.
Griner arrived in the US state of Texas on Friday morning (pictured), showing footage broadcast on CNN and Fox News, after he was released in exchange for a notorious arms dealer
WNBA star Griner is relieved to be back on US soil after arriving in Texas on Friday
He spent his flight home to the US talking to the crew and others on his flight.
‘She was in very, very good spirits when she got off the plane and appeared, obviously, to be in good health,’ White House spokesman John Kirby told MSNBC in an interview citing US officials on the ground in San Antonio, Texas, where he arrived early this morning.
The swap deal secured the release of the most prominent American imprisoned abroad and accomplished a key goal for President Joe Biden.
Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, Baylor University All-American and Phoenix Mercury pro basketball star.
Her status as an openly gay Black woman, imprisoned in a country where authorities have been hostile to the LBGTQ community, injected racial, gender and social dynamics into her legal saga and brought unprecedented draw attention to the population of wrongful detainees in Russia.
The athlete, who also played pro basketball in Russia, was arrested at an airport there in February after Russian authorities said he was carrying vape canisters containing cannabis oil. Before his sentencing, the US State Department declared that Griner had been ‘wrongfully imprisoned’ – an allegation that Russia strongly denied.
Griner went on trial on August 4 after being found guilty in Russia. He was sentenced to nine years in prison, and sent to a prison colony
Following Griner’s arrest at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February, he pleaded guilty in July but still faces trial because a guilty plea in Russia’s judicial system does not automatically end a case.
He admitted in court that he was in possession of canisters of cannabis oil but said he had no criminal intent and had not packed them on purpose. His defense team presented written statements that he was prescribed cannabis to treat pain.
On Thursday, the White House released footage of the emotional moment President Biden told Griner’s wife, Cherelle, that the WNBA star was finally coming home, before the couple embraced in the Oval Office.
President Biden announced Griner’s release Thursday in an address to the nation at the White House. ‘He is safe. He’s on the plane. He’s on his way home,’ he said. He said he had spoken to him and that he was in ‘good spirits’ after suffering ‘unnecessary trauma’ at the hands of the Russian state.
