In a development that was widely expected but nonetheless shocking, the Russian court sentenced American basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years of jail time after she got convicted Thursday of deliberately smuggling drugs into Russia. Reactions to Grittney's sentencing have since flooded media spheres, especially on Twitter where many NBA stars, including the likes of Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets and Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets have expressed their disappointment over the gravity of the severity of the punishment while also showing their support for Brittney Griner.

Brittney Griner was arrested in Russia six months ago at an airport in Moscow with Russian authorities accusing her of smuggling a tiny amount of cannabis oil found in her luggage. That's also where most of the shock from the NBA stars is coming from, as it's just hard to reconcile the length of jail-time that Brittney Griner is sentenced to serve with the amount of cannabis said to be in her possession.

Via CNN:

“I never meant to hurt anybody, I never meant to put in jeopardy the Russian population, I never meant to break any laws here,” Griner said. “I made an honest mistake and I hope that in your ruling that it doesn't end my life here. I know everybody keeps talking about political pawn and politics, but I hope that, that is far from this courtroom.

“I want to say again that I had no intent on breaking any Russian laws. I had no intent. I did not conspire or plan to commit this crime,” she added.