[ad_1]
Basketball legend Lisa Leslie stated she and others within the girls’s basketball world “have been advised” to not be too vocal concerning the arrest of Brittney Griner in Russia, for worry of turning her right into a “political pawn.”
Leslie, the previous Los Angeles Sparks middle who was often known as the face of the WNBA, spoke on the “I Am Athlete” podcast concerning the tense scenario.
“What we have been advised was to not make a giant fuss about it in order that they might not use her as a pawn, so to talk, on this scenario and struggle,” Leslie stated in a clip from the podcast, which is about to air in full on Monday.
Griner, who performs for the Phoenix Mercury, was arrested in mid-February by Russian authorities who claimed she was carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her baggage at an airport. She had been in Russia taking part in for a staff there, a standard apply for WNBA gamers because of the larger pay.
However Griner’s detention didn’t make the information in the USA till March, after Russian customs officers and information shops publicized the arrest.
The truth that Griner’s preliminary arrest seemingly went unnoticed ― and the relative quiet of the U.S. media and the WNBA even after the information broke ― has drawn criticism, notably a New York Journal story asking, “Why Isn’t Brittney Griner the Largest Sports activities Story within the Nation?”
Russia introduced the arrest a few week and a half into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, prompting hypothesis that officers hoped to make use of Griner for leverage with the U.S.
Leslie’s feedback prompt that individuals nearer to the scenario shared that concern, although she didn’t say precisely the place the instruction to not make a “fuss” got here from.
“I received’t say who stated that, however it’s form of what’s been spreading all through the ladies’s basketball world,” she stated.
She added that those that care about Griner struggled with whether or not conserving quiet was really the best factor to do.
“It’s heartbreaking, for all of us,” she stated.
Griner stays incarcerated in Russia. An official from the U.S. Embassy who was allowed to see her stated she was in “good situation,” the U.S. State Division stated earlier this week.
The WNBA didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from HuffPost about Leslie’s feedback. The group stated in a press release earlier this month that it was working “diligently” to get Griner house.
[ad_2]
Source link