Griner stays in touch with WNBA players
Detained Mercury center has been able to receive letters, emails in Russia
Brittney Griner can’t play with her WNBA colleagues. She can’t call them, either.
But she can write to them.
In one small bit of normalcy, Griner has been able to receive emails and letters from WNBA players during her detainment in Russia. Hundreds of emails have been sent by players to an account Griner’s agent set up to allow them to communicate with her.
It’s not easy: The emails are printed out and delivered sporadically in bunches to Griner by her lawyer after they are vetted by Russian officials. Griner doesn’t have access to the email account. She’ll either write a response on paper and her lawyers will take a photo of it, or she’ll dictate a response if she doesn’t have any paper.
Los Angeles Sparks forward Amanda Zahui B. never thought she’d hear back from Griner when she sent an email to the Phoenix Mercury star a few months ago.
“When she responded to my second letter, it blew me away,” Zahui B. said. “I was like, ‘She responded!’ In my third letter, I was like, ‘Hey, best friend, we are officially best friends now.’ ’’
Like so many WNBA players, Zahui B. wanted Griner to know she was thinking about her as the two-time Olympic gold medalist remains, in the view of U.S. officials, wrongfully detained in Russia.
Griner has been detained for 105 days after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis allegedly were found in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. When Zahui B. got her first response from Griner, it made her smile, and she promised herself she would send more notes. And she has, sending them every few weeks. So have many other players.
“We just don’t want her to think she’s forgotten,” New York Liberty center Stefanie Dolson said.
It’s not just emails being sent to Griner; Diana Taurasi actually sent a handwritten letter to her Mercury and Olympic teammate.
Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, said the letters have been a way for the 6-9 center to stay connected to her WNBA family.
Some players just offer hopes and prayers for Griner’s release and say they are thinking about her. Others send Sudoku puzzles or more personal notes.