Photos of her family half a world away kept Griner afloat. “Just being able to see their faces, that did it for me,” Griner said Thursday in her first news conference since being released.
Hope bounced around Brittney Griner like a buoy and an anchor.
Hope of returning home, hope of a miracle, was all she had all those months in custody in Russia. On the days hopelessness crept in, days that grew as her detainment stretched into a second winter, optimism drowned in despair.
Photos of her family half a world away kept Griner afloat.
“Just being able to see their faces, that did it for me,” Griner said Thursday in her first news conference since being released. “The moment where you kind of want to give up, you look at the photos and it kind of brings you back to what you’re waiting on. You’re waiting to be back with your families, with your loved ones in a safe place.”
Griner has been safe since a nearly 10-month detainment in Russia on drug-related charges ended with a prisoner swap in December.
Griner kept a low profile following her return to the U.S. while adjusting to life back home, outside of appearances at the Super Bowl, the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open and an MLK Day event in Phoenix.
She returned to the spotlight at a news conference on Thursday, an event attended by roughly 200 people inside the lobby of the Footprint Center, home of the Phoenix Mercury and the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Griner’s wife, Cherelle, and members of the Mercury organization gave the WNBA star a standing ovation as she appeared from behind a banner and climbed onto the riser.
“Different than a basketball press conference today,” said Griner, her eyes beaming and a huge smile across her face.
