WNBA legend Lisa Leslie: Players told to not make ‘big fuss’ over Griner’s detainment in Russia

Basketball Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie said that she and other prominent WNBA figures were told “to not make a big fuss” about Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia.

Appearing on the “I Am Athlete” podcast, the former WNBA star shared her insights — while cautioning listeners that what she’d heard was “hearsay” — on Griner, who is still being held in Russia.

“What we were told — and again this is all sort of passed along through hearsay — but what we were told was to not make a big fuss about it so that they could not use her as a pawn, so to speak, in this situation in the war,” Leslie said in a snippet of the interview released Friday. “So, to make it like it’s not that important or don’t make it where we’re like, ’Free Brittney’ and we start this campaign, and then it becomes something that they can use.”

Lisa Leslie speaks on Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia pic.twitter.com/kUeSjW76eI

— GlockTopickz (@Glock_Topickz) March 25, 2022

In the clip that was released, Leslie did not say who told them to not be too loud about Griner’s arrest. The full podcast episode will be released Monday. 

Leslie, one of the most popular WNBA players ever, played for the Los Angeles Sparks for 12 seasons and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. Leslie, 49, won four Olympic gold medals with the U.S. team.

Griner, who plays professionally in Russia during the WNBA offseason, was arrested at an airport near Moscow in February after Russian authorities said they found vape cartridges containing hashish oil. A criminal case was then opened, carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Her detention was recently extended until May 19 by a Moscow court, according to Russian news agency Tass. Per Russian law, she could be detained for 12-18 months before a trial. 

Griner is one of the most well-known female basketball players in the world. A former national champion at Baylor, the 6-foot-9 star is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a WNBA champion and one of the few women to dunk in a women’s basketball game. 

The Russian government last week allowed Griner to meet with U.S. consulate officials. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Griner is in “good condition,” adding that “everything” will be done to ensure she is “treated fairly.”