Members of the NBA are stepping up for WNBA star Brittney Griner in a major way amid the 2022 NBA Finals. Griner has been in detainment in Russia since Feb. 2022 where she’s remained since being stopped at an airport and arrested for carrying a vape. She plays overseas in Russia in her off-season from the WNBA to earn more money as she’s paid a higher salary there. As Griner’s family, legal team, and others work to free her, her brothers in sport are letting her know she has their full support. The Boston Celtics donned T-Shirts that read “We Are BG” at a recent game.
“The shirts were super important not only showing our support for our sister that is detained over in Russia, Brittney Griner, we just wanted to show that togetherness and love that we have throughout not only the NBA but the WNBA,” Grant Williams said, per ESPN. “She’s been a vital part of the WNBA over years past, college, and in the amount of impact she’s had on young female athletes, USA and overseas. We hope to have her back in the U.S. and reunited with her family and do what she loves and bring that love and tenacity she always plays with on the court.”
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Williams is a VP of the National Basketball Players Association. He said the shirts were a collaboration between the NBPA and WNBPA as a way to show support for Griner amid her ongoing legal fight.ย
“They sent them overnight to get them here for today,” Williams said. “They did a phenomenal job, and want to credit them to make that process happen. We just wanted to do that as a team. It was one of those things where no one questioned it. Everyone said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Everyone put the shirt on immediately when we got them, fresh off the box. They were ironed and good to go. So we wanted to show that love and support.”
Celtics star Jaylen Brown was happy to wear the shirt. “As a collective we wanted to come out and show our support for Brittney Griner,” he said. “She’s been over there for an extended amount of time, and we feel like enough is enough.”
