In February, customs authorities detected less than one gram of hashish oil and subsequently detained her on narcotics charges carrying a maximum 10-year term. Griner pled guilty to the charges in July, stating that she placed the oil in her suitcase inadvertently because she was in a rush.
Cannabis produces hashish oil, which Griner purportedly utilizes for therapeutic purposes.
After making what he termed a “very hard decision” to release Russian Viktor Bout, a convicted international arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” they fulfilled their aim to rescue Griner.
Brittney Griner freed from a Russian jail camp
Thursday, as part of a prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia, Brittney Griner was freed from a Russian jail camp.
Griner is possibly the finest player Mulkey has coached during her Hall of Fame career. The former Baylor player won the Wade Trophy twice and helped lead the Bears to the 2012 national title.
Griner is second in program history in points (3,281), third in rebounds (1,305), and first in blocks (first) (748).
Kate Fagan, who worked for ESPN at the time and assisted with the article, stated in May 2021 on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (via Insider’s Meredith Cash) that Mulkey “believed that I had pushed Brittney Griner to say this” and tried to get Fagan fired.
Later, in her 2014 memoir, Griner commented on how Baylor’s broader institutional attitude on homosexuality made her feel inferior, stating, “no matter how much support I had as a basketball player at Baylor, it still does not erase all the anguish I endured there.”
However, for years, her connection with her alma institution remained rocky.
The homosexual star of the Phoenix Mercury claimed to ESPN in 2013 that Mulkey and other Baylor officials instructed players not to reveal their sexual orientation.
Griner had been jailed in Russia
The former Baylor standout, who captained the 2012 national champions and was one of Kim Mulkey’s top players during her stint with the Bears, is currently in U.S. custody. Since February, Griner had been jailed in Russia.
Mulkey has been silent about Griner’s position during the previous few months. In a statement to ESPN, the LSU women’s basketball coach expressed good wishes to her former star player.
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