US Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, leaves the courtroom after the court’s verdict in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022. – A Russian court found Griner guilty of smuggling and storing narcotics after prosecutors requested a sentence of nine and a half years in jail for the athlete. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP) (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
A theory has been floated on why Brittney Griner received such a harsh prison sentence in Russia.
Griner, one of the WNBA’s top players, was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges in Russia. She was caught at the airport with hash oil in a vape pen in her backpack. Griner has been in Russian custody ever since.
A prominent professor believes that Griner’s harsh prison sentence was due to her skin color and her sexuality.
Griner, who is Black, is also gay.
“There is no question that if she weren’t a woman who challenged the sexual norms… She’s married to a woman, but she’s a dominant ball player. She’s a phenomenal cultural icon. Even LeBron had to admit it,” Michael Eric Dyson said, per Yahoo. “This Black woman, had she been anybody else — even a straight Black woman would’ve received more support than a queer Black woman with a Black wife.”
Griner has been in Russia since earlier this year.
The U.S. Government continues to work on bringing her home, but so far, it’s been unsuccessful.
Hopefully the longtime WNBA star will be back on American soil soon.
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