State Department Updates Brittney Griner’s Team on her Status

Just in case you forgot, Brittney Griner is still in Russia.

The State Department met with Brittney’s team, the Phoenix Mercury, and ensured them that efforts are being made by the United States government to secure her release, according to The Associated Press. It’s unclear what specifically took place in the meeting,, but the State Department confirmed the meeting to The Associated Press and said it involved officials from its office that deals with hostages and wrongfully detained Americans.

“We’re here to do whatever we can to amplify and keep BG at the forefront, which is more important than any basketball game and anything else that’s going on in our lives,” Mercury star Diana Taurasi said, via AZCentral’s Jeff Metcalfe.

“We want BG to come home as soon as possible. It’s No. 1 on our list. Once we knew that BG was classified as wrongfully detained, that was a signal to us all. It’s something that we’ve talked about intimately as a group. Now knowing that the State Department at the highest level, from U.S. President Joe Biden to the team that is working on bringing back all Americans who are wrongfully detained, gives us a lot of confidence that they’re working on it. Anything that we can do on our side to amplify and to put BG first will be our No. 1 priority.”

Diana Taurasi on #Mercury meeting with State Department meeting: "We’re here to do whatever we can to amplify and keep BG at the forefront, which is more important than any basketball game and anything else that’s going on in our lives …

— jeffmetcalfe (@jeffmetcalfe) June 13, 2022

Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard was skeptical of the meeting with the State Department on Sunday, but sounded content with how it went after the meeting ended.

“It was great to hear from the State Department that we should continue to amplify that message and that we should continue to press all those who have any influence or power to help bring BG home … She’s our teammate, she’s an American and we want her back home,” Nygaard said, via AZCentral’s Jeff Metcalfe.

#Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard: "It was great to hear from the State Department that we should continue to amplify that message and that we should continue to press all those who have any influence or power to help bring BG home …

— jeffmetcalfe (@jeffmetcalfe) June 13, 2022

Griner has been detained in Russia for more than 115 days after she was caught with vape cartridges with hashish oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport.

Russia is reportedly trying to trade her for notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout, who earned the nickname the “Merchant of Death.”

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