Brittney Griner is writing a book that will detail her 'unfathomable' 10-month detainment in Russia
- Brittney Griner spent 10 months detained in Russia after officials found cannabis oil in her luggage.
- The WNBA superstar returned to the United States by way of a prisoner exchange in early December.
Brittney Griner is writing a book.
The WNBA superstar spent 10 months in Russian custody after officials at a Moscow airport found cannabis oil in her luggage. She was deemed "wrongfully detained" by the US government after months of standstill in the Russian courts, and after losing her initial trial and subsequent appeal, Griner was sent to fulfill her nine-year sentence in a Russian penal colony.
A high-profile prisoner swap — exchanging notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout — brought Griner back to the United States in early December. Shortly thereafter, she announced her intention to return to the basketball court and her WNBA franchise, the Phoenix Mercury.
Now, four months after returning home, Griner says she's "ready to share" her harrowing experience.
"I arrived in Moscow to rejoin the UMMC Ekaterinburg basketball team and was immediately detained at the airport," Griner said in a release from her publisher, Alfred A. Knopf. "That day was the beginning of an unfathomable period in my life which only now am I ready to share."
According to the release, Griner's yet-to-be-named memoir will take readers on "her raw, emotional journey from Olympic champion to hostage to her life today." Not only will she detail her detainment "in vivid detail," but she'll also discuss "the personal turmoil she experienced during the near 10-month ordeal and the resilience that carried her through to the day of her return to the United States last December."
Griner also intends to address "the issue of pay equity for women athletes in the United States — the very inequity that led Griner to play basketball in Russia for seven previous seasons and to return for an eighth on that fateful February day."
Additionally, Griner has worked to "raise awareness surrounding other Americans wrongfully detained abroad" since returning home. This book, she hopes, will aid in those efforts.
In the release, she listed several of the wrongfully detained Americans by name: "Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Emad Shargi, Airan Berry, Shahab Dalili, Luke Denman, Eyvin Hernandez, Majd Kamalmaz, Jerrel Kenemore, Kai Li, Siamak Namazi, Austin Tice, Mark Swidan and Morad Tahbaz."
Griner's book is set to come out in spring 2024.