Brittney Griner’s Case is No Easy Layup

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia for four months as she awaits trial.

Brittney Griner’s arrest and detention in Russia is an international incident that is now a game of geopolitics being played at the highest level and on the biggest stage. Much like Griner’s basketball career, she is now at the center of one of the biggest games being played in her career. Only this time the stakes are at a magnitude neither she nor any of her supporters could have ever imagined. This is a game where every possession matters, every play call will be scrutinized and one critical turnover could prove fatal. As I think about the Griner case, it takes me back to the 1998 movie “Return to Paradise” starring Vince Vaugh, Anne Hech, Joaquin Phoenix and Jada Pinkett where an American gets arrested in Malaysia for drug possession and is facing a death sentence. While negotiations are taking place between the two governments, Pinkett, who plays reporter M.J. Major, writes an article in a major American newspaper criticizing the Malaysian government. As a result, the judge sentences Phoenix’s character to death by hanging to be carried out the next day. Game over.

That is why the Griner case must be handled delicately or this could go sideways very quickly. I cringe with some of the decisions and public statements that have been made thus far, even though I understand them. However, there are several factors that must be considered in Griner’s case, which is set to go to trial in Russia on Friday:
a) She identifies as a lesbian woman and she is in Russia
b) She is a celebrity
c) She is American
d) There is a possibility she had an illegal substance in her possession
e) Russia is using this to make President Biden appear weak in the eyes of Americans
f) Russia is seeking to use Griner in a diplomatic prisoner exchange.
However, who Russia is seeking in return is Viktor Bout. On paper, this does not appear to be an even exchange. Bout was convicted and sentenced in 2012 for some serious crimes that threaten national security. Bout was an international black-market arms dealer who sold weapons to the Taliban that were involved in the murder of several U.S. military personnel. This man will sell a weapon to ANYONE and at one point, he was selling weapons to both sides involved in conflicts in Africa, according to federal prosecutors. Basically if you got the cash, he will sell you missiles, guns, tanks, planes whatever you need. Think of him as "Nino Brown" on the highest level. Bout was even hired by the U.S. Pentagon, while the Justice Department was investigating him to build a criminal case against him, according to Yahoo Sports.
So, that's why I'm telling everyone this case is way more complicated than people think. It is not just do whatever to bring Brittney home. That could get a lot more people killed in the immediate and long-term future. The best option might be a third-party trade where the U.S. convinces one of its ally nations to release someone Russia wants, Russia in exchange gives Griner to one of our allies and the U.S. gives our ally someone they want that we have in custody. That way everyone gets a win and everyone gets to save face, which is what most of this is really about.