As Brittney Griner re-acclimates herself to life in the United States after being in Russian prison for 294 days, she is getting the quality time with her family she was robbed of since last February. In her first workout since she was detained, Griner threw down a dunk, signaling she has the spark that has made her so dominant in the WNBA over the last decade.
“I think it’s fair to say that her picking up a ball voluntarily and the first thing being a dunk … it was really encouraging,” Colas said. “She was really excited.”
While Griner is safely back home, there is still emotional healing that needs to take place for her to be fully back to the BG fans and media alike have come to love. The United States is providing her the resources and support she needs after what she went through over the last ten months.
Article Continues Below“She’s had a lot of psychological support,” Lindsay Kagawa Colas, Griner's agent said. “The resources are very robust. It’s very supportive and very BG-centered. It’s about her developing agency.”
Brittney Griner also wants to help other wrongfully detained Americas get their freedom after being held as a political prisoner. Her and Paul Whelan were at the center of talks between the United States and Russia when negotiating a prisoner swap. The end result was a straight up trade for Viktor Bout, who served 14 of the 25 years of his prison sentence in the United States.
“It was one of the first things she asked me about,” Colas said. “She’s very, very concerned about that. And will be sending a message to Paul.”