WNBA star Brittney Griner is at her “absolute weakest moment in life right now” as she faces a hearing in Russia for her appeal of a nine-year prison sentence for drug possession, Griner’s wife said in an interview aired Thursday.
Cherelle Griner told “CBS Mornings” that her wife is afraid of being forgotten by the United States.
“She’s very afraid about being left and forgotten in Russia, or just completely used to the point of her detriment,” Cherelle Griner said.
Cherelle is hopeful that Russian President Vladimir Putin will show “mercy” and send the two-time Olympic gold medalist back home.
“I feel like at this point it’s going to take Putin to have that same mindset and say, ‘You know what, Brittney Griner – who came to my country for seven, eight years, and helped my country be recognized through sport, paid taxes in my country, helped my country – I’m going to sit at a table, and I’m going to be clear about what I need in return for her release,’ so that we can actually get a meeting of the minds between these two governments,” Cherelle Griner said.
She said Brittney Griner told her in a phone call that she felt “like my life just doesn’t matter.”
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“Like, y’all don’t see the need to get me back home? Am I just nothing?” Cherelle Griner quoted her wife as saying.
Griner spent several years playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia.
Brittney Griner was convicted Aug. 4 after Russian police said they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow.
Cherelle Griner said the president is “doing what he can, but there’s another party in this situation.” She said it’s going to take Russian President Vladimir Putin changing his mindset.
