Saying she is ready to share the 鈥渦nfathomable鈥� experience of being , basketball star Brittney Griner is working on a memoir that is scheduled for spring 2024.
Griner was at the airport in Moscow on drug-related charges and detained for nearly 10 months, much of that time in prison. Her plight unfolded at the same time Russia invaded Ukraine and further heightened tensions between Russia and the U.S., ending only after she was for the notorious .
A WNBA All-Star with the Phoenix Mercury, Griner had flown to Moscow in February 2022 to rejoin UMMC Ekaterinburg, a Russian women鈥檚 team she has played for in the off-season since 2014.
鈥淭hat day (in February) was the beginning of an unfathomable period in my life which only now am I ready to share,鈥� Griner said in a statement released Tuesday by Alfred A. Knopf.
鈥淭he primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that day was because I wanted to make my wife, family, and teammates proud. After an incredibly challenging 10 months in detainment, I am grateful to have been rescued and to be home. Readers will hear my story and understand why I鈥檓 so thankful for the outpouring of support from people across the world.鈥�
Griner added that she also hoped her book would raise awareness of other Americans detained overseas, including , arrested in Russia last month and accused of espionage; businessman Kai Li, serving a 10-year sentence in China on charges of revealing state secrets to the FBI; and , a corporate security executive imprisoned in Russia on spying charges. Around the time Griner was released, Whelan criticized the U.S. government for not doing enough to help him.
Russia has been a for top WNBA athletes in the offseason, with some earning salaries over $1 million 鈥� nearly quadruple what they can make as a base WNBA salary. Despite pleading guilty to possessing canisters with cannabis oil, a result of what she said was hasty packing, Griner still faced trial under Russian law.
Griner鈥檚 memoir is currently untitled and will eventually be published in a young adult edition. Financial terms were not disclosed.
In Tuesday鈥檚 press statement, Knopf said that the book would be 鈥渋ntimate and moving鈥� and that Griner would disclose 鈥渋n vivid detail her harrowing experience of her wrongful detainment (as classified by the State Department) and the difficulty of navigating the byzantine Russian legal system in a language she did not speak.鈥�
鈥淕riner also describes her stark and surreal time living in a foreign prison and the terrifying aspects of day-to-day life in a women鈥檚 penal colony,鈥� the announcement reads. 鈥淎t the heart of the book, Griner highlights the personal turmoil she experienced during the near ten-month ordeal and the resilience that carried her through to the day of her return to the United States last December.鈥�
Griner, 32, is a 6-foot-9 two-time Olympic gold medalist, three-time All-American at Baylor University, a prominent advocate for pay equity for women athletes and the first openly gay athlete to reach an endorsement deal with Nike. She is the author of one previous book, 鈥淚n My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court,鈥� published in 2014.
In February, she and will play in its upcoming season, which runs from May through September.
Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
Like us on and follow us on .
