SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry joined WNBA stars Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith on the ESPYS stage on Wednesday night to call for Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner's release from a Russian prison.
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"There are a lot of people working hard to secure Brittney's release," Curry said, wearing a Griner jersey as he stood next to Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith, Griner's teammate in Phoenix. "But as we hope for the best, we urge the entire global sports community to continue to stay energized on her behalf."
"Because Brittney isn't just a member of the Phoenix Mercury, she isn't just on her team in Russia, she isn't just an Olympian: She's one of us," the ESPYS host continued, gesturing to the crowd. "A team of athletes in this room tonight, and all over the world. A team that has nothing to do with politics or global conflict."
Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February after officials said they found cannabis oil in the vape cannisters in her luggage. Her family, friends, fans and teammates' pleas for her release have reached as high as the White House, with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris speaking with Griner's wife two weeks ago Wednesday.
Facing up to 10 years in Russian prison if convicted of transporting drugs, Griner pleaded guilty earlier this month and said she neglected to remove the cannisters from her luggage when packing hastily to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg in the country during the WNBA offseason. Last week, Griner's attorney presented as evidence a U.S. doctor's letter recommending her use of medical cannabis to treat pain.
William Pomeranz, the acting director of the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute, told KCBS Radio's Jennifer Hodges during an interview last week that Griner's lawyers likely entered the plea in an effort for leniency. Griner's teammates in Russia, as well as officials within the team, all testified to her character, but Pomeranz said it was "unlikely" to reduce her sentence.
"She doesn't have a shot at a lenient sentence, I believe, and therefore we will go to the next stage," Pomeranz said in an interview last Saturday. "And that's not criminal. It's diplomatic, and trying to have the negotiations of a prisoner swap for Brittney Griner with the Russian Federation."
Initially, Griner's supporters pursued silence as a strategy to grant her release, fearing that forceful public advocacy inflame tensions between the U.S. and Russia amid the latter's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. They did so until May 3, just shy of three months after Griner's Feb. 17 arrest, when the State Department announced it considered Griner "wrongfully detained" in Russia.
"The more we say her name, the louder our voices we be," Ogwumike said on Wednesday night.
"The more we see her face, the closer we will feel to her, and her to us," Diggins-Smith said.
"We cannot stop fighting for her, we cannot stop believing for her and we will not stop hoping for the day when we will welcome her home safely," Curry said.
"We are BG," the trio said in unison.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, NBA champion and NCAA champion, has played in Russia during the WNBA's offseason since 2014. Many stars have played in Russia, China and elsewhere overseas during offseasons to supplement their WNBA salaries, which their NBA peers' paychecks far surpass. Many have also played for UMMC Ekaterinburg, specifically, because the team attracted some of the best players in the world.
But that was before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the U.S. sanctions that followed. As sports stars like Curry continue advocating for Griner's release, the highest levels of the Russian government will ultimately determine when she comes home, likely in a potential prisoner swap with the U.S.
"I think it weighs very heavily because clearly the United States and Russia are not talking," Pomeranz said of the geopolitical tensions. "There's no dialogue. There's no discussion, even on a diplomatic level, I believe. And therefore, because the U.S. has sanctioned Russia severely because of its actions in Ukraine, Russia is just not in the mood to be lenient or negotiate."
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