- Dawn Staley tweets out support for Brittney Griner "every single day" she's been detained in Russia.
- The former Team USA coach told Insider that Griner "is an incredible person with a big old heart."
Dawn Staley has offered support for Brittney Griner "every single day" since the WNBA superstar was wrongfully detained in Russia.
Every single day, the South Carolina Gamecocks coach tweets out a message with the number of days the 6-foot-9 center has spent imprisoned overseas, advocating for Griner's safe and swift return to the United States. And even though "people come on and comment" negative sentiments "every single day," Staley has every intention of continuing to speak out on Griner's behalf.
"People just talk about it like it's a thing, but it's a human being, an American that's over there that's deemed wrongly detained," Staley told Insider before she was awarded the Women's Sports Foundation's prestigious Billie Jean King Leadership Award. "We need to be doing everything in our powers.
"I know there's a lot of opposition, there's a lot of forces that are unforeseen: the war, all of that," she added. "I hope we just don't lose sight of the people that are over there — and not just BG."
Griner spent each of the past eight years traveling to Russia to compete for UMMC Ekaterinburg during the WNBA off-season. But in February of this year, as she headed overseas to rejoin her team, Griner was stopped and arrested at a Moscow airport after customs agents found hashish oil in her luggage.
The eight-time WNBA All-Star spent nearly six months in pre-trial detainment. Then, in August, a judge convicted her of drug smuggling charges and sentenced her to nine years in a Russian penal colony. The verdict is widely seen as exorbitant and unjust among the Western world.
For Staley, BG's incarceration abroad is deeply personal. The pair spent the summer of 2021 together in Tokyo, with Staley serving as head coach of the Team USA squad that Griner helped lead to its seventh-consecutive Olympic gold medal.
"What I have is my time with her," Staley said. "Every day, BG is an incredible person with a big old heart."
Staley encourages people to be mindful of Griner's humanity before suggesting that the WNBA star doesn't deserve to come home.
"I just hope they understand the seeds they sow," she added. "I don't know if they've been to the Karma Cafe; you get served what you deserve."