Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving took center court before Wednesday’s game to issue a plea on behalf of WNBA player Brittney Griner.
“I appreciate us being able to share this floor together, all of us as brothers. But the big picture that’s going on in the world is free our sister, Brittney Griner, please,” Irving said, microphone in hand, to a roar of applause from the crowd. “Please, POTUS, do your job. Everybody do your job. Please bring our sister home. And we wouldn’t be doing our jobs to the best of our ability if we didn’t stand on what we believe in.”
Griner was arrested in February for bringing vaping cartridges that contained minimal amounts of cannabis oil through a Moscow airport. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a nine-year prison sentence, one year shy of the maximum penalty she faced under Russian law, which overwhelmingly results in guilty verdicts. Her appeal begins later this month.
BRITTNEY GRINER AND PAUL WHELAN COULD BE FREED BY YEAR’S END, ADVOCATE SAYS
A special message from @KyrieIrving pic.twitter.com/21b6nX7L2a
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) October 19, 2022
Irving has been known to take political stances, including as recently as March, when he cost his team a $50,000 fine for entering the New York locker room while unvaccinated. The point guard was never barred from playing away games, but he often clashed with New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s vaccine mandate.
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The Brooklyn Nets would go on to lose 108-130 to the New Orleans Pelicans.
