Does anyone know why she went to Russia in the first pkace?
I’ve never heard that part of the story.
To play basketball
From http://www.distractify.com/p/why-did-brittney-griner-go-to-russia :
“NBC News reported that “Griner has played the last seven WNBA offseasons with UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia, where big-name players can earn more than $1 million a year.”
Later in the article:
‘Brittney was “accused of carrying vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in Russia,” per ABC News.’
If true, she’s an idiot. If not, she might’ve been set up by someone.
Lots of professional athletes will go play in foreign countries during their off seasons or if they are in a state of decline in their sport of choice, because they are often still better than most athletes of other countries.
As per Advocate.com, Griner received much larger pay for UMMC Ekaterinburg than her WNBA salary. For her first year in the privately-backed Russian basketball team, Griner reportedly made just shy of $1 million. Meanwhile, the WNBA compensation was around $250,000 at max.
Her side hustle when she’s not playing in the vaunted wnba league is playing in a Russian league......guess she musta missed the part of the Russia orientation class that covered no illegal drugs.
I’ve never heard that part of the story.
She was playing in a lesbian professional basketball league in Russia. Also they don't play the US national anthem there before games.
It's almost impossible that she couldn't have known what the drug laws were in Russia. She apparently thought she was above the law since she was a star basketball player.
Think she had a million $contract to play basketball there.
She was playing basketball there. Call it the Borscht League.
She plays for a Russian Team during the WNBA off season. Many wnba players do. They get paid more there doing that then they do playing in the WNBA. If memory serves