• Brittney Griner addressed the media for the primary time since coming back from Russian detainment.
• The WNBA celebrity mentioned she would “by no means” play abroad once more until she’s competing for Workforce USA.
• Nonetheless, she does not “knock any participant” who performs overseas as a result of “pay hole” in girls’s basketball.

Brittney Griner will “by no means” play basketball abroad once more.

The 2-time Olympic gold medalist’s lone exception to that rule, considerably unsurprisingly, can be if she have been ever requested to compete on behalf of Workforce USA once more. However barring that risk, Griner plans to remain stateside and keep away from a repeat of her nightmarish detainment in Russia all through nearly all of 2022.

“I am by no means going abroad to play once more until I am representing my nation on the Olympics,” Griner mentioned unequivocally.

“If I make that staff, that might be the one time I would go away US soil,” she added. “And that is simply to characterize the USA.”

Griner, who spoke Thursday throughout her first press convention since returning to the US by way of a December prisoner change with Russia, was on her solution to rejoin European powerhouse UMMC Ekaterinburg for her ninth season when she was arrested at a Moscow airport for carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her baggage. She subsequently spent 10 months in detention, together with a while in one in every of Russia’s most infamous penal colonies.

Regardless of the obvious dangers, the 6-foot-9 celebrity made it clear Thursday that she understands why different WNBA gamers would proceed competing overseas.

“The entire cause plenty of us go over is the pay hole, Griner mentioned. “Numerous us go over there to make an earnings to assist our households, to assist ourselves. So I do not knock any participant that wishes to go abroad and make slightly bit of additional cash.”

“It is a disgrace that we have now to go away our households for holidays; I imply, you are lacking the whole lot being away,” she added later. “However on the similar time, as a lot as I might like to pay my gentle invoice for the love of the sport, I can not. So I feel that is most likely one of many greatest causes persons are nonetheless go abroad. And that is why I used to be there.”

Griner then expressed hope that the WNBA “continues to develop” so the league can afford to pay the upper salaries that might maintain gamers residence throughout future offseasons. That’ll contain additional funding within the league: from manufacturers, media retailers, followers, and staff house owners.

“With as many individuals in right here proper now protecting this, I hope you proceed to cowl our league, deliver publicity to us,” Griner mentioned. “I hope plenty of these corporations begin to spend money on our craft as a result of, as you will see this season if you have not watched earlier than, we have now a extremely good craft in ourselves within the WNBA.”

Take a look at her full feedback under:

—NBA TV (@NBATV) April 27, 2023