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CHICAGO — As she played in her final WNBA All-Star Game Sunday, Seattle guard Sue Bird wanted anyone watching to know where the hearts and minds of the league’s players were: with Phoenix center Brittney Griner. Every All-Star wore jerseys with Griner’s name and No. 42 for the second half of Sunday’s game at Wintrust Arena.
Team A’ja Wilson beat Team Breanna Stewart 134-112 in the home of the defending WNBA champion Chicago Sky. In the first half, the players wore All-Star jerseys with their own names. Then at halftime, they switched to the jerseys honoring Griner, who was named an honorary All-Star starter.
Griner, who was drafted No. 1 in 2013, has been detained in Russia since mid-February, when she was stopped at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport and accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. Griner pleaded guilty Thursday, telling a judge that she had packed them “inadvertently” while asking the court for mercy.
Bird, who is in her 19th WNBA season, played alongside Griner in the past two Olympics.
“We just wanted to make sure at some point that we were able to — on national television, obviously in front of a sold-out crowd — put Brittney’s name in the forefront,” said Bird, who will retire at season’s end. “Hopefully at some point she sees a picture or something, letting her know that she is always on our minds and in our hearts.
“It’s also a way to have other people see her name. Maybe someone turned on the TV and doesn’t know about the story and is like, ‘Oh why are they all wearing the same jersey number?’ In those moments it brings awareness, and it constantly reminds the Biden administration that we are supporting them and whatever they need to do to get Brittney home.”
Sources told ESPN…
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Source : espn
