Griner still detained; WNBA season begins

The Phoenix Mercury opened the season at home May 6 against the Las Vegas Aces. One player who wasn’t on the bench will be prominently on everyone’s minds: Brittney Griner.

As the Mercury and the rest of the WNBA move forward into the 2022 season, Griner is nearing the three-month mark of her detention in Russia, with no timetable for her release.

“We all have concern for the situation, something that normally would be handled a lot quicker,” Washington coach Mike Thibault said before the Mystics played the Indiana Fever on Friday night. “(It) certainly hasn’t been and I think everybody sees what’s happening. She’s in everybody’s thoughts.”

Griner was detained on Feb. 17 after authorities at the Moscow airport said they found vape cartridges that allegedly contained oil derived from cannabis in her luggage, which could carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The Biden administration determined Griner is being wrongfully detained and she has a hearing set for May 19.

The WNBA will honor Griner with a floor decal with her initials on her No. 42 in arenas across the league as she continues to be detained.

“We’re just showing that support in ways that we think not only have visibility and utilize the platform that we have, but also in a respectful way that helps advance the cause of having this person that we care about deeply — and is being detained unjustly — to keep her name and her situation forefront in people’s minds so that hopefully the day comes soon when she’s released and can come back home safely to her family,” Fever coach Marianne Stanley said.

A 6-foot-9 center, Griner and WNBA career leading scorer Diana

Taurasi have been the key cogs for a Mercury franchise that won the 2014 WNBA title and reached the final last season, losing to the Chicago Sky.

NFL

RAIDERS PRESIDENT STEPS DOWN » Las Vegas Raiders team President Dan Ventrelle has left the organization less than a year after taking over the job.

Owner Mark Davis announced in a statement Friday that Ventrelle “is no longer with the Raiders organization” but divulged no details around the decision.

Ventrelle took over as team president on an interim basis last July after Marc Badain resigned. Ventrelle was promoted to the fulltime role after the season ended in January.

Ventrelle and Badain played key roles in the Raiders’ move from Oakland, California, to Las Vegas but both are gone before the team starts its third season in Nevada.

Ventrelle is the latest in a string of highranking business executives to leave the team in the past year. Chief Financial Officer Ed Villanueva and controller Araxie Grant left with Badain over the summer in what Davis later called an issue of “accounting irregularities.”

MLB CORREA AVOIDS SERIOUS INJURY »

The Twins have avoided a scare with star shortstop Carlos Correa, whose right middle finger is not broken as initially feared following a hit-by-pitch in the previous game.

The CT scan confirmed that he did not suffer a fracture, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. He’s just bruised and sore.

His status will be evaluated day to day, and he won’t have to go on the injured list.

“The reality is it’s just going to be inflammation and soreness management,” Falvey said.