WNBA star Brittney Griner was interviewed by ABC’s Robin Roberts about her bleak 2022 detention in Russia, in a special edition of “20/20” that aired on May 1.
Griner, who is releasing a memoir titled “Coming Home” on May 7, admitted that she contemplated killing herself during her first weeks spent in a Russian jail.
“I wanted to take my life more than once in the first weeks,” Griner told Roberts, per ABC News. “I felt like leaving here so badly.”
Griner was detained at a Russian airport on February 17, 2022. She was in Russia to play for BC UMMC Ekaterinburg, a professional women’s basketball team who she played for from 2015-2022.
Airport officials claimed that Griner’s luggage held vape cartridges with cannabis oil, a drug that is strictly forbidden in Russia.
“I’m just like, ‘Oh, my God.’ Like, ‘How did I– how did I make this mistake?’” Griner told Roberts, of realizing she had forgotten the cannabis oil cartridges in her bags.
When Roberts asked Griner how she had forgotten about the illegal cannabis, she said, “It’s just so easy to have a mental lapse.
“Granted, my mental lapse was on a more grand scale,” she added. “But it doesn’t take away from how that can happen.”
The two-time Olympic gold medalist endured many horrors in Russian prison. One of which was being limited to one roll of toilet paper per month.
After Griner was transferred to a work camp in the Russian region of Mordovia, her job was cutting fabric for Russian military uniforms.
“My dreads started to freeze,” she said, after mentioning the cold weather conditions. “They would just stay wet and cold and I was getting sick.
“You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to survive.”
Griner Honored By Baylor
After being released on December 8, 2022, after the U.S. agreed to swap her for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, Griner has been hailed as a hero for enduring her detainment.
Her alma mater, Baylor University, decided to retire her jersey on February 18, 2024.
“I’m honored to return home to Baylor and celebrate where so much of my journey started,” Griner said via Baylor’s team website. “I’m grateful to Coach Nicki (Collen) and the entire Baylor community and looking forward to the opportunity to be back on campus, spend time with the team and have my family beside me to share in this incredible moment. Sic ‘Em Bears.”
While at Baylor, Griner was a two-time National Player of the Year, won a 2012 National Championship, and ended her career as the NCAA’s all-time blocks leader.
Griner Prepares For Her Third Olympics
Griner was not among the 12 players selected to represent Team USA in the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Yet, just because she wasn’t rostered for that tournament doesn’t mean she won’t appear at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Team USA is expected to make their women’s basketball Olympic roster announcement on June 1.
Griner said per CNN in April 2023 that she’ll “never go overseas again” to play basketball after being detained in Russia — unless it’s for the Olympics.
Since the Phoenix Mercury center is the best player in the world at her position, she’s likely a shoo-in to play in Paris if she wants to.
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