Griner to publish memoir of time in Russian prison

US WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner looks from inside a defendants’ cage before a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow on July 26, 2022.
Photo: AFP / Alexander Zemlianichenko

Basketball star Brittney Griner is ready to share the story of her nearly 10 months in Russian custody.

Griner, 32, said in a statement on Wednesday her memoir would be a detailed and thorough account of being arrested in February 2022, tried in a Russian court and convicted with a sentence that included time at a penal colony.

Publishing company Alfred A. Knopf said in the statement the young adult literature is due to be released next spring and would outline the “harrowing experience of her wrongful detainment (as classified by the State Department) and the difficulty of navigating the byzantine Russian legal system in a language she did not speak.”

The All-Star center was freed in a prisoner swap during heightened political turmoil between the United States and Russia, which invaded Ukraine in the days after her arrest.

The Phoenix Mercury star is a two-time Olympic gold medal winner and re-signed to play the 2023 season. Griner — like other American pros — spent part of her offseason in Russia, where salaries for women’s professional basketball players can approach $1 million, nearly four times the highest salary in the WNBA.

“The primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that day was because I wanted to make my wife, family, and teammates proud. After an incredibly challenging 10 months in detainment, I am grateful to have been rescued and to be home. Readers will hear my story and understand why I’m so thankful for the outpouring of support from people across the world.”

Griner said her book would also shed light on the struggles of other Americans wrongfully detained, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Gershkovich was arrested and detained in Russia last month, where he is accused of espionage.

– Reuters