Brittney Griner's wife Cherelle says she wants help from President Joe Biden to bring WNBA star home from Russia.
Despite the strain, Russia and the United States carried out an unexpected prisoner exchange last month — trading former Marine Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
Cherelle, who graduated from law school at North Carolina Central University earlier this month, hasn’t talked on the phone with Griner since the day she was first detained. Cherelle said she told Griner to call her when she could. She’s still waiting for that call nearly 100 days later. Initially, friends and teammates of Griner were hesitant to talk about her situation for fear of interfering with the ongoing negotiations for her release. However, they began cautiously speaking out before the women's Final Four in early April as her detention gained more national attention.
“Things like that matter, like, it has her hopeful,” Cherelle added. “It lets her know she’s not forgotten. Those small moments, I know give her some type of hope.” Griner, who won an NCAA championship at Baylor, earns over $1 million playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg to supplement her WNBA income where she is makes the maximum base salary of $228,000. Elite players like Griner can earn up to $500,000 with their salaries, bonuses and WNBA marketing contracts.