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With Brittney Griner being a focal point of the Atlanta Dream's frontcourt, she is back to her usual WNBA production, which was a process of its own after being released from prison in Russia via a prisoner swap. While Griner is having a resurgence with the Dream currently, she harkens back to her time in prison, speaking about the disturbing moments that led to the swap.
Griner was in a sit-down interview with former NFL quarterback Cam Newton where the topic was on her time in a Russian prison, where she was originally sentenced to nine years back in 2022 over having vape cartridges containing hash oil. She would go into detail about how she was treated before the eventual prisoner swap with Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer.
“The trade took a little minute to happen too on the back end on my end,” Griner said. “I had to get transferred from the penal colony to the men's prison in Moscow, and I got checked into there. I knew I was getting traded, but the way they were treating me and their one little last play to terrorize me or mess with me, because when they were checking me in.”
“They had me basically stripped down butt naked in front of a room of like probably about seven, eight men, and they had the Polaroid and they got me spinning in a circle while they're like taking photos, because my tattoos are, you know, whatever they are,” Griner continued. “That was their last little, I guess, addict to mess with me.”
Dream's Brittney Griner on the moments before prisoner swap
With Griner in a new phase of her life after the events in Russia, there is no denying how stressful of an experience it must have been in the leadup to the swap. Griner would detail how she wouldn't trust anything around her in the chance she would be harmed, and also spoke about the relief when she realized home is around the corner.
“They’re trying to offer me to eat,” Griner said. “They’re like we’ve got food. They said we’ve got steak. I’m like, no, I’m not about to get poisoned before I go home because I don’t trust y’all. So we land I see the other plane on the other side. I know it’s an American plane. I see the American flag on it. I’m just like, alright, home is close.”
“We made one little pit stop to some people that were high up in Abu Dhabi that made this possible,” Griner continued. “Shook their hands and thanked them. They said if I ever wanted to come here, I could. I’m just like I appreciate you. In my mind, I’m like, I don’t plan on leaving the country ever again. I’m good, we’ve got beaches right at the US Of A, I’m good.”
Griner and the Dream next play on Tuesday as they take on the Las Vegas Aces.
