Four months after being involved in a prisoner exchange with the United States and Russia, WNBA player Brittney Griner is ready to share her story.
Today (April 11), The Associated Press shared the Texas-born athlete is working on a memoir about her experience in Russia this past year. Currently, the book is untitled and scheduled for a spring 2024 release.
In early 2022, authorities arrested Brittney at the airport in Moscow on drug-related charges. She was traveling to the foreign country to rejoin her overseas professional team, the UMMC Ekaterinburg, whom she has played with since 2014. “That day was the beginning of an unfathomable period in my life which only now am I ready to share,” Brittney said in a statement.
Russian police detained the 32-year-old for the next 10 months. During this time, Brittney’s wife, Cherelle Griner, worked tirelessly to plead for assistance in getting the former Baylor University basketball star back home. On Dec. 8, 2022, Russia agreed and traded the talented athlete for arms dealer Viktor Bout.
“The primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that day was because I wanted to make my wife, family, and teammates proud,” she continued. “After an incredibly challenging 10 months in detainment, I am grateful to have been rescued and to be home. Readers will hear my story and understand why I’m so thankful for the outpouring of support from people across the world.”
According to the outlet, Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of book publisher Penguin Random House, released the statement, sharing that Brittney’s story would disclose “in vivid detail her harrowing experience of her wrongful detainment.”
“At the heart of the book, [Brittney] highlights the personal turmoil she experienced during the near 10-month ordeal and the resilience that carried her through to the day of her return to the United States last December,” the statement read.
In February, the two-time Olympic gold medalist re-signed with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and will play this upcoming season.