The NBA is a $10 billion corporation that has the power and reach to promote not only its teams and players, but also to provoke discussion and debate around social issues. He used this influence most prominently to fight racism in the United States.
Yet when it comes to Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who has been detained in Russia since February, NBA teams have been largely absent from the public campaign for her release. The NBA founded the WNBA and still owns about half of it, but the NBA has been relatively muted outside of press conferences as Griner’s family, her agent and the women’s league and its players have led the public push for her freedom. NBA players also showed support.
Officials from both leagues said they initially remained silent at the urging of U.S. government officials who worried that publicizing the case would backfire and further endanger Griner. But even after the U.S. State Department said it had determined she had been “wrongfully detained” and government officials began speaking regularly about Greener, the NBA and team owners remained largely silent, fueling sentiment that the case had not gotten the light of day. of the spotlight from Greener, supporters demanded.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said publicly that the league and its teams are using their influence and connections to help Griner in ways the public doesn’t see. It’s hard to say whether they’re doing enough when even diplomacy experts disagree on what “enough” would be, or whether public or private advocacy would be more effective.
“There are no easy answers,” said Ian Bremer, a political scientist who runs a political risk consulting firm. He added: “Could the NBA have done more? Yes, they could.’
On the other hand, Bremer said, pressure from the NBA could cause Russia to demand more in a deal to release Griner. Experts suggest a prisoner swap could free Greener.
“How you evaluate all of these things depends on your perspective,” Bremer said.
The NBA Players Union said its members were deeply concerned about Greener and pointed to public displays of support from players during playoff games and at awards shows and on social media. Silver and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said NBA owners care, too, but have kept their advocacy out of the public eye. The New York Times contacted the owners of all 30 NBA teams — directly or through representatives — and none agreed to be interviewed about Greener.
Through a spokesman, Silver declined to be interviewed for this article, but in a statement repeated his public comments that the league had been “actively engaged” with government officials and experts.
“The NBA and its teams are also using their influence to bring attention to Britney’s situation, but ultimately this is a matter for the United States government to decide because of the serious and complex geopolitical issues,” Silver said in the statement.
The nuance of the league’s position is not lost even on those most intimately aware of what it means to be wrongfully detained abroad. Consider Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post op-ed writer who was held in Iran for a year and a half on trumped-up charges and released in a 2016 prisoner swap.
He prepared to question Silver in June before the NBA Finals in a news conference, one of the few the commissioner gives during the season.
“I wanted to put him on the spot,” Rezaian said of Silver. “As a corporation, what are you doing for this employee of yours?”
But before he got a chance, Silver beat him to it, saying the NBA and WNBA were working with the U.S. government and outside experts to try to expedite Griner’s release. Rezaian said he thought Silver’s remarks were powerful and that speaking up about Griner before he was asked was smart.
“I thought it was wonderful that the commissioner used this moment of perhaps his biggest platform of the year, or one of them, to bring attention to the case,” Rezaian said. “If he could have done it then, three and a half months after her detention, he could have done it sooner.
“But I know they were advised not to earlier. I don’t blame anyone for that. There is no official handbook for what to do when a loved one or employee is taken hostage by a hostile country.
Griner, 31, has been detained since February 17 after Russian customs officials said they found hashish oil in a vape cartridge in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. Her trial began on July 1 and she pleaded guilty on July 7. She said she had no intention of breaking the law while traveling to play for a Russian women’s basketball team during the offseason from her WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury.
Her next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. If convicted, which experts said was likely even before she pleaded guilty, Greener could face up to 10 years in a penal colony. The US State Department said it would work to negotiate her release regardless of the outcome of the trial.
Her public support remains strong despite her guilty plea.
“I get asked that question all the time — ‘Is the NBA good?'” Engelbert said. “Extremely helpful. We share a brand. We have NBA after our name. NBA team owners have contacted me personally: “What can we do to help with Brittney?”
Engelbert said an NBA owner put her in touch with the president’s special envoy for hostage issues, a State Department unit that handles the cases of Americans believed to be wrongfully detained, even before Greener got that appointment.
Negotiations for the release of prisoners abroad are often conducted quietly. It’s unclear what the NBA’s role was in pressuring government officials or helping Greener’s family, but Engelbert said Silver was personally involved in making phone calls to government officials on Greener’s behalf.
At the time the State Department announced it had determined that Greener had been wrongfully detained, the WNBA season was about to begin, but only eight NBA teams were still competing in the playoffs.
“It takes a while to realize that the person you’re trying to influence is the president of the United States,” Rezaian said. “Because they’re the only ones in a position to make the kind of concessions and decisions to make concessions that will set somebody free.”
He later added, “People come home when it becomes politically expensive for a president not to come home.”
WNBA teams have honored Greener in many ways, including fundraisers, stickers and T-shirts, and her family will receive her full Mercury salary this season. Some NBA players have spoken about her or worn clothing that has drawn attention to her detention. The NBA’s Phoenix Suns, who own the Mercury, added a tag to their court and posted about Greener on their social media accounts, but few NBA teams have made many vocal or public displays of support.
Experts are divided on the impact of public pressure. Some believe this makes Greener worse off by giving the Russian government more leverage in the negotiations. One Russian official said the publicity surrounding her case was creating “interference” in getting a deal done.
NBA team owners have not been part of the public campaign. In a Las Vegas summer league press conference this month, Silver said Griner’s situation was not on the agenda during the league board meeting, but that individual owners had spoken to him about it.
The Times then contacted at least one owner from each team. Eleven representatives declined on behalf of the owners, including one who did not even forward the request. A spokesman said the team owner was on vacation and 16 teams did not respond. Two owners responded directly.
“I can say that I have every confidence that the NBA and WNBA league offices are doing everything in their power,” Los Angeles Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss said in a text message.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban declined to be interviewed but said via email, “I hope she’s out soon.”
Five NBA teams—in Phoenix, Brooklyn, Indiana, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C.—own WNBA teams. The owners of those teams declined to comment, but each of those WNBA teams publicly endorsed Greener.
Engelbert said the NBA has not asked team owners to avoid talking about Greener. She is part of the NBA’s senior leadership team and reports to Silver.
“The proposal was to support the administration and the State Department in the work they are doing in this difficult situation to bring Brittney home,” Engelbert said.
The players showed their support. During an NBA players union meeting in May, Carmelo Anthony, a 10-time NBA All-Star who spent last season with the Lakers, said players should use the Finals to highlight Greener.
On June 2, the day of Silver’s NBA Finals press conference, Anthony posted a video on Twitter discussing Greener. He has 9.2 million followers.
“I wanted to use my voice to bring the basketball community together,” Anthony said in a statement to The Times.
At an NBA finals practice two days after Anthony posted his video, nearly every member of the Boston Celtics wore a black T-shirt with orange lettering that read “We are BG.” Grant Williams, Celtics forward and vice president of the players’ union, sent the jerseys to his teammates overnight.
Stephen Curry and LeBron James, two of the NBA’s biggest stars, have also spoken out publicly about Greener.
Tamika Tremaglio, executive director of the NBA players union, said she has been in contact with Terry Jackson, executive director of the WNBA…
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