The Brittney Griner Situation…

I am about to take a leap of faith.  At best, I will land on semi-solid footing and only a significant minority of the people will think poorly of me.  At worst, I will land in quicksand and be swallowed up in social contempt.  I am going to say what I think about the Brittney Griner situation.

Griner was arrested in Russia in February 2022 when authorities there say she was detected carrying cannabis-related materials in vaping pods at an airport in Russia.  Maybe she was; maybe she wasn’t and maybe whatever was detected was planted on her.  I do not know the answer to that – – and neither do any of her activist advocates here in the US.  Griner has been in a Russian jail with her case pending since February and now there are calls for President Biden to make it his priority to bring Brittney Griner home ASAP.  There are demonstrations in support of that action and there are letters signed by anyone and everyone to the President urging him to act.

Now, if I KNEW FOR CERTAIN that whatever was found in Brittney Griner’s luggage at that airport was planted on her, then I can get behind all those activist activities 100%.  But I do not know that.  And because I do not know that, I have to think about this situation in what are surely unpopular terms; suppose those bad, bad Russian authorities actually discovered someone breaking Russian law.

• Griner has been playing for a Russian professional women’s basketball team since 2015 during the WNBA offseasons.
• After multiple years of experience dealing with Russia and Russian authorities, she had to know that whatever was allegedly found in her luggage was illegal stuff there.
• After multiple years of experience dealing with Russia and Russian authorities, she had to know that running afoul of those authorities on criminal charges was a horrendously stupid thing to do.

And yet, here we are…

Griner pleaded guilty to her charges earlier this week – – but that does not really answer the question of “real charges” or “trumped up charges” by the Russian authorities.  Legal folks who know much more about Russian jurisprudence than I will ever know say that a guilty plea with an explanation to the court as to how/why this happened is a better strategy that a not-guilty plea showing no remorse because the probability of getting a not-guilty verdict is vanishingly small.

So, we now have two situations facing us:

1. Griner’s crime was nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time as tensions between Russia and the US boiled over in February 2022; and she is, therefore, worthy of diplomatic efforts to secure her release and her return to safety.
2. Griner was indeed carrying contraband in that airport and as such is not much smarter than a box of hammers given what she should have known about Russian authorities and Russian jurisprudence after years of living/working there.

I said above that I do not know which of those situations obtains here – – but neither do all the activists and advocates for Brittney Griner.  And if Situation #2 above is  the correct one, then Brittney Griner does not deserve any more Presidential attention than any other US citizen detained abroad who is guilty of breaking whatever law has landed them in a foreign jail for however long it is.  The fact that Britney Griner is an outstanding women’s basketball player is irrelevant here – – if in fact she broke Russian law on Russian soil.  I can feel sorry for her, but I cannot become invested in “bringing her home” over and above “bringing Joe Flabeetz home” from whatever penitentiary conditions poor ol’ Joe lives under.

Some folks have opined that Brittney Griner is in the situation she is in due to the fundamental sexism of US sports.  The line of “reasoning” that leads to that conclusion is that Griner needed to play all that time for a Russian pro team because she – – and her comrades in arms in the WNBA – – could not make a living wage under the patriarchy of US pro sports.  And that, ladies and gentlemen is pure and unadulterated Balderdash.  Griner’s current contract with the Phoenix Mercury calls for her to make $221K; that is walking around money for many NBA stars to be sure, but it is also not something that would put Brittney Griner and her wife on welfare here in the US.  [Aside:  Granted, that was not the case in 2015 when Griner began playing in Russia; WNBA salaries then were not nearly so large.]

Griner was not in Russia because she had to be to keep the wolf from the door.  Griner was not in Russia because the male-dominated ne’er-do-wells that run US pro sports have oppressed her.  Grier was in Russia because:

• She had a lucrative contract to play for her Russian team during the WNBA offseason and she could earn lots and lots more money doing that than she could make doing anything else here in US during the WNBA offseason.

WNBA salaries represent what the players’ union was able to negotiate in the last CBA given the fact that many teams only survive due to the sponsorship of the NBA team in the same city/area and the fact that WNBA media rights command only pennies on the dollar as compared to NBA media rights.  And whether anyone wishes to believe it, the reason that the WNBA media rights sell on the cheap is that most US sports fans do not enjoy watching WNBA games on TV and the ratings generally stink.

Cue the folks who are spring-loaded to deny any such reality in the name of gender-equity.  What I have said above has nothing to do with the abilities of women professional basketball players and it has nothing to do with misogyny or sexism.  What it has to do with is this:

• More US sports fans like and prefer to watch men’s basketball than do fans of women’s basketball.  That propensity manifests itself in big differences in TV ratings and TV ratings drive the amount of money that broadcasters are willing to play for media rights.
• It may feel good to cry “sexism” and “patriarchy” and all that stuff – – but the driver here is economics.
• Brittney Griner would be making $221K this year playing for the Phoenix Mercury; Russell Westbrook will make $47.5M this year playing for the LA Lakers – – or maybe someone else – – and that disparity is based on the revenue stream differences between the WNBA and the NBA.

Do I want Brittney Griner to come home safe and sound?  Of course I do – – but not at any cost.  And not at much of a cost at all if indeed she knew what she was doing was against the law in Russia and then did it anyhow.  You will notice that her vocal and avid advocates never seem to address that question and in fact use deflection verbiage and slogans to label this situation as an unalloyed act of evil against Brittney Griner.

Let me be kind here and say those advocates steer clear of that issue because they – like I – do not know what ground truth in this matter is.  Let me suggest, however, that determining the ground truth here is fundamentally important as one tries to develop any means under which Brittney Griner gets to come home any time soon.  I know that would be tough sledding to get to that ground truth, but until I know what really happened at that Russian airport in February, I have to say that I am sorry for the condition she finds herself in but not to the extent that I would move Heaven and Earth to bring her home.

I think I will be ducking for cover at about this point…

Since this whole matter began with an episode of airport security, let me close today with this observation by comedian, Jay Leno:

“People want to say there isn’t racial profiling at the airport, but let’s be honest.  If your first name is Mohammed, and you last name isn’t Ali, leave a little extra time.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………