American basketball player Britney Greiner (33), who was imprisoned for drug smuggling in Russia, returns to the WNBA stage.
ESPN reported on the 19th (Korean time), 슬롯사이트“Greiner signed a one-year contract with the WNBA Phoenix Mercury and plans to compete in the WNBA in the 2023 season.”
Greiner is a player who was active in the Russian league in the 2021-22 season, which was a non-WNBA season.
He was detained at a Moscow airport in February of last year for having Greiner in possession of an e-cigarette container containing cannabis oil.
Greiner explained that he possessed cannabis for medicinal purposes, but a Russian court sentenced him to nine years in prison.
After news of Greiner’s detention came out, the US government stepped in directly. After negotiations, they succeeded in bringing Greiner in exchange for Viktor Butt, a Russian arms dealer who was serving a prison term in the United States for illegal arms sales.
Greiner, who was nominated by Phoenix with the first overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Rookie Draft, is a top WNBA player with 8 All-Stars and 2 top scorers.
In 2021, he averaged 20.5 points, 1.9 blocks and 2.7 assists per game, setting career highs.
In international competitions, she also represented the United States, and she won gold medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Returning to the WNBA, Griiner will report his return on May 20 against the Los Angeles Sparks in the season opener or May 22 against the Chicago Sky in his first home game.