Safe return of ‘unlawfully detained’ star Griner is a win WNBA community deserves

This is a column by Shireen Ahmed, who writes opinion for CBC Sports. For more information about CBC’s Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

While the NHL and NBA are deep into their playoff seasons, the WNBA just tipped off its 2022 season earlier this month.

The 26th season of this magnificent league, which has created a blueprint for fighting anti-Black racism and has been vocal in supporting other marginalized communities, is playing without one of its greatest players: Phoenix Mercury’s No. 42, Brittney Griner. 

Griner was detained in Russia on Feb. 17 under suspicion of drug smuggling. Griner allegedly had cannabis oil in the form of vape cartridges in her bags. Her arrest was not made public for three weeks until the New York Times broke the news. Griner plays basketball for a team in Russia during the off-season and was returning from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) world championship qualifiers with the U.S. national team.

It has been 89 days since Griner was detained. She faces up to a 10-year jail term if convicted. 

Griner has played with UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia since 2016. She was not away from her wife by choice. Playing basketball in the off-season was something she had to do in order to make a living, like many of her teammates do. Playing in the off-season can garner up to four times their base salary in the WNBA and it has been reported that, aside from this incident, American players enjoy the experience. My colleague,…