As Brittney Griner prepares for her long-awaited return to the WNBA, a potential traveling issue has been brought up.
In a Twitter thread, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne pointed out that the WNBA legend may “need to fly privately due to security concerns”, as opposed to her teammates. It was noted by Shelburne that private flying has been brought up aplenty during free agent talks.
Shelburne also wrote, “If Griner were to fly privately the league would have to address whether her teammates on the Mercury would fly privately with her. That would raise the question of fairness for the other teams in the league, which are currently not allowed to fly privately.”
In December, U.S. president Joe Biden announced that he reached an agreement on a prison swap with Russia. Griner was brought back to the United States in exchange for the release of arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Griner was arrested at the Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow for possessing a small portion of hash oil, which is illegal in Russia. She was later found guilty and handed a nine-year prison sentence.
The 32-year-old Griner is an eight-time WNBA All-Star and two-time league scoring champion. She led the Phoenix Mercury to the WNBA Championship in 2014. Griner has also flourished on the international stage, leading the Americans to Olympic gold in the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics.
