NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving spoke to Barclays Center before the Brooklyn Nets season opener and has challenged Joe Biden to do his job and get WNBA star Brittney Griner back to the states.
With the NBA kicking off season openers, a few teams decided to use their platform to draw attention to Griner’s imprisonment in Russia.
Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison for bringing cannabis oil through airport security.
Brittney has acknowledged her illegal actions in Russia and said it was “an honest mistake.”
“I appreciate us being able to share this floor together, all of us brothers. But the big picture that’s going on in the world is free our sister, Birttney Griner. Please,” Irving said on the microphone pregame.
“POTUS, do your job. Everybody do your job. Please bring your sister home. We wouldn’t be doing our jobs to the best of our ability if we didn’t stand for what we believe in,” Kyrie noted.
Kyrie Irving's opening night message to Nets' fans end with a plea to free Brittney Griner.
"POTUS do your job, everybody do your job.”
🎥 @YESNetworkpic.twitter.com/UhUofXUXP7
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 19, 2022
Griner was a college sensation at Baylor University, being well known for being one of the only women to be able to dunk a basketball. The 6-foot, 9-inch center was traveling to Russia for her offseason in the WNBA.
Last February was when she made the trip that ultimately changed her life forever when the Moscow airport police seized her possession of vape canisters with cannabis oil.
She was arrested four days before the Russian army invaded Ukraine.
“I never meant to hurt anybody, I never meant to put in jeopardy the Russian population, I never meant to break any laws here,” Griner stated. “I made an honest mistake, and I hope that in your ruling that it doesn’t end my life here. I know everybody keeps talking about political pawn and politics, but I hope that that is far from this courtroom.”
Golden State Warriors MVP Steph Curry took his season opener to speak about Brittany.
“We want to continue to use our platform and the opportunity to shout out a very special member of the basketball community,” Curry said at the Chase Center pregame against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Griner’s legal team issued an appeal, and the court date has been set for October 25th at the Moscow region court.
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