Vice President Harris was in the Phoenix Mercury locker room before Brittney Griner’s return to the basketball court.
Griner was arrested in February 2022 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport after authorities discovered vape canisters filled with cannabis oil in her luggage.
He was given a nine-year prison sentence, but President Biden managed a prisoner exchange that returned Griner to the states.
Fifteen months after her arrest, she is back in the ground and Harris has visited her.
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US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Committee Women’s Leadership Forum in Washington, DC, USA, Friday, September 30, 2022. (Leigh Vogel/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«Thank you for everything you did to support Brittney, because I know it was hard and very difficult for you,» Harris said.
Griner’s release came with some backlash as she was taken home in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, while retired US Marine Paul Whelan remained in a Russian jail.
Griner said he had a «heartbreaking experience» in Russia.
Brittney Griner #42 of the Phoenix Mercury warms up before the WNBA game at the Footprint Center on May 12, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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«I arrived in Moscow to meet the UMMC Ekaterinburg basketball team and was immediately stopped at the airport. That day was the beginning of an unfathomable period in my life that I am only now ready to share,» Griner wrote in a post on Instagram.
The WNBA posted a video of several players from the Los Angeles Sparks, Griner’s opponent on Friday, discussing the WNBA star in a positive light on Thursday.
«What I love about having BG back on the court is that basketball is his safe space.» Sparks forward Chiney Ogwumike said in the video. «Growing up in Houston, Texas with my sister, we follow her career closely, support each other, and just having her back means a lot to us.»
Brittney Griner #42 of the Phoenix Mercury poses for a portrait on January 13, 2022 at the Mercury practice facility in Phoenix, Arizona. (Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Outside of preseason, Friday marks Griner’s first WNBA game since the 2021 Finals on Oct. 17 of that year.