Tag Archives: WNBA

Yahoo Sports reports: Brittney Griner is officially back with the Phoenix Mercury after signing a one-year, $165,100 deal to return to the court after her 10-month imprisonment in Russia, according to Richard Cohen of Her Hoop Stats. Griner was released from Russian prison on Dec. 8 as part of an exchange that saw the U.S. free convicted arms dealer Viktor …

CBS News reports: Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug charges, was released Thursday in a one-for-one prisoner swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to a U.S. official. The one-for-one exchange agreement negotiated with Moscow in recent weeks was given final approval by President Biden within just the last week, according …

Reuters reports: Russia said on Friday it hoped to clinch a prisoner swap with the United States to return convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death”, in an exchange that would likely include U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner. Amid the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two, Russia and the United States are exploring …

Reuters reports: U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been taken to a penal colony in the Russian region of Mordovia, a source familiar with the case told Reuters on Thursday. In August, Griner was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony on drugs charges following her arrest at a Moscow airport in February with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil …

NBC News reports: A Russian court on Tuesday denied WNBA star Brittney Griner’s appeal and upheld her nine-year prison sentence on drug charges. Griner, 32, looked despondent as she appeared at the hearing in the Moscow Regional Court via video conference from the detention center where she has been held since her arrest in February. The athlete is now expected …

NPR reports: A Russian court has found Brittney Griner guilty on drug smuggling and possession charges. The widely expected verdict comes after a monthlong trial and nearly six months after the basketball star was arrested at a Moscow-area airport with cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage. The judge sentenced Griner to nine years in prison. The trial’s outcome was not …

Reuters reports: A Russian prosecutor demanded U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner be sentenced to nine and a half years in prison on drugs charges at a trial that is expected to end in a verdict later on Thursday. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Feb. …

ESPN reports: Detained WNBA star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty on Thursday to bringing hashish oil into Russia, telling a judge that she had done so “inadvertently” while asking the court for mercy. The move is not expected to end her trial in Khimki, Russia, anytime soon. Even with a guilty plea in Russian criminal courts, the judge will continue to …

The Guardian reports: The WNBA and the NBA’s board of governors unanimously approved the sale of the Atlanta Dream on Friday, ending defeated Republican senator Kelly Loeffler’s tumultuous stint as a WNBA owner. “With the unanimous WNBA and NBA votes, today marks a new beginning for the Atlanta Dream organization and we are very pleased to welcome Larry Gottesdiener and …

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler objected to the WNBA’s plans to honor the Black Lives Matter movement, warning Tuesday that subscribing to a “particular political agenda undermines the potential of the sport and sends a message of exclusion.” Loeffler, a Republican who co-owns Atlanta’s WNBA franchise, urged Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a letter to scrap plans for …

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports: Candice Wiggins had what many would consider a dream career in the WNBA. She was the No. 3 overall draft pick out of Stanford in 2008. She was named the league’s Sixth Woman of the Year as a rookie. She won a championship with the Minnesota Lynx. The success, Wiggins says now, hid a darker …

Via the Associated Press: WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson were suspended seven games each Friday for their domestic violence arrest last month — the league’s longest ban in its 19-year history. WNBA President Laurel Richie said the league “takes all acts of violence extremely seriously” in handing down a suspension that represents more than one-fifth of the 34-game …

Via the Associated Press: Amid a surge of public opinion in favor of gay rights in the U.S., the WNBA is launching a campaign to market the league to the LGBT community, becoming the first pro sports league to specifically recruit gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender fans to its games. With the marketing campaign, the WNBA is capitalizing on what …

USA Today reports: Well, this is new. Diana Taurasi and Seimone Augustus were defending each other during Thursday night’s WNBA conference finals game between the Minnesota Lynx and the Phoenix Mercury. As the commentators note, Taurasi and Augustus have known each other for a very long time and there is genuine affection to complement the competition. Apparently, that affection crossed …