2020 MVP A’ja Wilson was emotional during a post-game conference after seeing images of friend and Team USA teammate Brittney Griner that were released as Phoenix Mercury star headed to court for pre-trial motions on Monday.
Griner has been detained in Russia since February due to alleged possession of a vape cartridge with hash oil in it. The State Department declared that Griner had been wrongfully imprisoned back in May.
“It’s not even how great she is as a player, but that’s a person,” Wilson explains. “That’s someone’s wife, and she can’t communicate with them. And I just pray every day that she comes home and she’s just healthy because it’s so much deeper than the physical — it’s the mental, it’s the emotional, and anyone that knows BG knows her spirit; it’s probably the best thing about her”
Just moments ago A’ja Wilson was asked in the post game conference, how she felt about seeing Brittany Griner on television today for the first time, listening to what she had to say. Very emotional and powerful stuff. #FreeBG #BritneyGriner #WNBA #WNBATwitter #LVAces pic.twitter.com/V587VghuTu
— Jose V. – Straight Bet Sports 🤌 (@Jose_Volonte) June 28, 2022
According to Griner’s lawyer Aleksandr Boilkov, Griner is set to remain detained until the trial is officially over. The start date is just under three days, beginning on July 1.
Wilson began to mention that over everything, she hopes Griner’s spirit will remain intact.
“Yeah, she can put the ball in the hoop. But her spirit, I would hate to see that stripped away from her. So I pray, I pray so much for BG, and I hope we can bring her home, but the outlook was so hard to look at today,” Wilson mentioned right before breaking down in tears.
Many athletes and teams around the League have continued to show support for bringing Brittney home through Instagram posts, tweets, speeches, and post-game interview.
