Brittney Griner working on memoir about Russian captivity

NEW YORK (AP) — Saying she is ready to share the “unfathomable”experience of being arrested and incarcerated in Russia, basketballstar Brittney Griner is working on a memoir that is scheduled forspring 2024.

Griner was arrested last year at the airport in Moscow ondrug-related charges and detained for nearly 10 months, much ofthat time in prison. Her plight unfolded at the same time Russiainvaded Ukraine and further heightened tensions between Russia andthe U.S., ending only after she was freed in exchange for thenotorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

A WNBA All-Star with the Phoenix Mercury, Griner had flown toMoscow in February 2022 to rejoin UMMC Ekaterinburg, a Russianwomen’s team she has played for in the off-season since 2014.

“That day (in February) was the beginning of an unfathomableperiod in my life which only now am I ready to share,” Griner saidin a statement released Tuesday by Alfred A. Knopf.

“The primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that daywas because I wanted to make my wife, family, and teammates proud.After an incredibly challenging 10 months in detainment, I amgrateful to have been rescued and to be home. Readers will hear mystory and understand why I’m so thankful for the outpouring ofsupport from people across the world.”

Griner added that she also hoped her book would raise awarenessof other Americans detained overseas, including Wall Street Journalreporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested in Russia last month andaccused of espionage; businessman Kai Li, serving a 10-yearsentence in China on charges of revealing state secrets to the FBI;and Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive imprisoned inRussia on spying charges. Around the time Griner was released,Whelan criticized the U.S. government for not doing enough to helphim.

Russia has been a popular playing destination for top WNBAathletes in the offseason, with some earning salaries over $1million — nearly quadruple what they can make as a base WNBAsalary. Despite pleading guilty to possessing canisters withcannabis oil, a result of what she said was hasty packing, Grinerstill faced trial under Russian law.

Griner’s memoir is currently untitled and will eventually bepublished in a young adult edition. Financial terms were notdisclosed.

In Tuesday’s press statement, Knopf said that the book would be“intimate and moving” and that Griner would disclose “in vividdetail her harrowing experience of her wrongful detainment (asclassified by the State Department) and the difficulty ofnavigating the byzantine Russian legal system in a language she didnot speak.”

“Griner also describes her stark and surreal time living in aforeign prison and the terrifying aspects of day-to-day life in awomen’s penal colony,” the announcement reads. “At the heart of thebook, Griner highlights the personal turmoil she experienced duringthe near ten-month ordeal and the resilience that carried herthrough to the day of her return to the United States lastDecember.”

Griner, 32, is a 6-foot-9 two-time Olympic gold medalist,three-time All-American at Baylor University, a prominent advocatefor pay equity for women athletes and the first openly gay athleteto reach an endorsement deal with Nike. She is the author of oneprevious book, “In My Skin: My Life On and Off the BasketballCourt,” published in 2014.

In February, she re-signed with the Mercury and will play in itsupcoming season, which runs from May through September.