“Literally Can Break You”: Brittney Griner Revisits Painful Experience During Russia Detention

No matter how much time passes, some experiences never fully leave you. Back in 2022, Brittney Griner learned that the hard way after spending almost a year detained in Russia. During that time, the WNBA star genuinely believed she might never make it back home, and that fear eventually pushed her to write one of the most heartbreaking letters of her life. Now, four years later, Griner is finally opening up about that awful experience and the emotional request she made while sitting inside a Russian detention center.

During a recent appearance onSports in America with David Greene, Griner admitted that she told Cherelle (her wife) she would understand if she decided to move on with her life, as things weren’t looking good for the 35-year-old.

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“I did,” Griner revealed after Greene asked whether she had written a letter telling her wife she could date someone else if necessary. “I was still at the detention center when I wrote this one. It was a hard letter to write.”

Russian authorities arrested Brittney Griner in February’22 after discovering vape cartridges containing hash oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. While reports suggest that it was a small prescribed amount, it was still an illegal substance in Russia. So the authorities eventually sentenced her to nine years in a penal colony. And that’s when it hit Griner that she might not meet her wife for almost a decade.

“It’s already a long time for someone to do it in the States, but you can visit them occasionally,” she explained. “You could never visit me [in Russia]. We could never see each other.” But what made this situation even more painful was that the couple had already begun planning the next chapter of their lives together, in which they would start a family.

“I know her plans. I know what we planned. We planned to have a family. I know having a family was big for her and big for me as well. It was just so much,” she further added. “I wanted her to promise me that she’d still be my friend, that she’d still write to me, you know, stay in touch so I’d still have somebody.”

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However, Cherelle immediately shut that idea down. “She wrote back like, ‘Of course not,’ Like, she wasn’t doing that.”

Even then, Griner admitted that the environment around her constantly filled her with doubt and fear as she witnessed other prisoners receive devastating letters from their loved ones ending relationships or taking their children away.

“There were thoughts in the back of my head,” Griner admitted. “You see other prisoners get letters saying their husbands are leaving them or taking their kids, and you just see how devastating it is. It can literally break you.”

But thankfully, her story eventually took a different turn. So after spending nearly 10 months detained, the United States secured her release in December 2022 through a high-profile prisoner swap involving Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. And much of the credit goes to Cherelle, who became one of the loudest voices fighting for Griner’s release by constantly pushing for public attention and government action.

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Now, years later, the two are finally living the life they once feared might never happen. In July 2024, the couple welcomed their son, Bash, and Griner has often spoken about how much joy motherhood has brought into her life.

While her experience was far more extreme, Griner’s latest comments also highlighted the emotional struggles many WNBA players have quietly dealt with over the years.

Brittney Griner’s Story Echoes Through Some of Basketball’s Darkest Journeys

Back in 2019, WNBA legend Maya Moore famously stepped away from basketball at the absolute peak of her career. She did that to help fight for the release of Jonathan Irons, who was reportedly wrongfully imprisoned for more than two decades. Over the years, Irons openly admitted that prison nearly broke him mentally and emotionally before Moore eventually helped overturn his conviction in 2020. The two later got married and started a family together, turning one of basketball’s most emotional stories into a life-changing ending.

More recently, 2026 WNBA rookie Lauren Betts also opened up about battling what she described as an internal prison while dealing with severe depression during her college days at UCLA. While her situation is completely different from Brittney Griner’s physical detainment in Russia, Betts admitted she felt trapped mentally and emotionally during one of the darkest stretches of her life. So much so that at one point, the young star even checked herself into a hospital after reaching an extremely dangerous place.

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“I don’t want to do this anymore… Picture yourself underwater, facing up toward the sky and just…. fading. Fading, until you can no longer see the surface. Fading, until you finally reach the darkest part of the ocean. That was me.” Betts revealed that while reflecting on the moment, she realized she needed help.

But much like Griner, it was the support system around Betts, especially her family, teammates, and coaches, who helped her find her way back. Though she had to step away from basketball to focus on her mental health for some time, Betts eventually returned to the court and won a national championship with UCLA in 2026, and later entered the WNBA Draft as one of the league’s brightest young stars.

Stories like these are a reminder that some of the toughest battles athletes face never happen in front of a crowd.

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