The NBA is a $10 billion corporation that has the power and reach to promote not only its teams and players, but also to spark discussion and debate about social issues. He has used this influence most prominently to fight racism in the United States.
However, 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 roughly half of it, but the NBA has been relatively quiet outside of press conferences as Griner’s family, her agent, and the women’s league and its players have led the public push for their freedom. NBA players have also shown support.
Officials from both leagues said they had kept quiet at first at the behest 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 “detained in error” and government officials began speaking regularly about Griner, the NBA and team owners they kept mostly quiet, fueling feelings that the case hasn’t received Griner’s kind of focus. supporters have asked.
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 about what would be “enough” or whether public or private advocacy would be more effective.
“There are no easy answers,” said Ian Bremmer, a political scientist who runs a political risk research and consulting firm. He added: “Could the NBA have done more? Yes, they could have.”
On the other hand, Bremmer said, pressure from the NBA could cause Russia to demand more in a deal to release Griner. Experts have suggested that a prisoner swap could free Griner.
“How you value all these things depends on your perspective,” Bremmer said.
The NBA’s players union said its members had been deeply concerned about Griner, noting the players’ public displays of support at playoff games and awards shows and on social media. Silver and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert have said NBA owners care, too, but have kept their defense out of the public eye. The New York Times contacted the owners of all 30 NBA teams, either directly or through representatives, and none agreed to be interviewed about Griner.
Through a spokesman, Silver declined to be interviewed for this article, but in a statement reiterated 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 draw attention to Brittney’s situation, but ultimately this is a matter for the United States government to resolve because of the serious and complex issues involved. geopolitics at stake,” 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, the 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 press 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 had the chance, Silver won him over, saying the NBA and WNBA were working with the US government and outside experts to try to expedite Griner’s release. Rezaian said he thought Silver’s comments were strong and that talking about Griner before asking him was smart.
“I thought it was wonderful that the commissioner used that moment of his biggest platform of the year, or one of them, to bring attention to the case,” Rezaian said. “If he can do it then, three and a half months after his arrest, he could have done it earlier.
“But I know they were advised not to before. I don’t blame anyone for that. There is no official handbook for dealing with what to do when your loved one or employee is taken hostage by a hostile state.”
Griner, 31, has been detained since February 17 after Russian customs officials said they found hashish oil in a vaporizer cartridge in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. His trial began on July 1 and he 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 for her WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury.
His next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. If convicted, which experts said was likely even before she pleads guilty, Griner could face up to 10 years in a penal colony. The US State Department said it would work to negotiate his release regardless of the outcome of the trial.
His public support has remained strong, despite his guilty plea.
“I get asked this question all the time: ‘Has the NBA been helpful?'” Engelbert said. “Extremely helpful. We share a brand. We have NBA after our name. NBA team owners have reached out to me personally saying, ‘What can we do to help Brittney?’
Engelbert said an NBA owner had connected him to the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, a State Department unit that handles the cases of Americans deemed wrongfully detained, even before Griner received this designation.
Negotiations to secure the release of prisoners abroad are often carried out quietly. It’s unclear what role the NBA played in lobbying government officials or helping Griner’s family, but Engelbert said Silver had personally been involved in making phone calls to government officials on behalf of Griner.
When the State Department announced that it had determined that Griner 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 one in a position to make the kind of concessions and decisions to make concessions that free someone.”
He later added, “People come home when it’s politically costly for a president not to come home.”
WNBA teams have honored Griner in many ways, including fundraisers, courtside decals and jerseys, and her family will still receive the Mercury’s full salary this season. Some NBA players have spoken out about her or worn clothing that drew attention to her arrest. The NBA’s Phoenix Suns, who own the Mercury, added a sticker to their court and have posted about Griner 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 it makes Griner’s situation worse by giving the Russian government more leverage in the negotiations. A Russian official said the publicity surrounding his case was creating “interference” in reaching a deal.
NBA team owners have not been part of the public campaign. In a press conference during the summer league in Las Vegas this month, Silver said Griner’s situation was not on the agenda during the league’s board of governors meeting, but that individual owners they had told him about her.
The Times then contacted at least one owner of each team. Eleven representatives declined on behalf of the owners, including one who did not even want to pass on the request. A spokesman said the team owner was on holiday and 16 teams did not respond. Two owners responded directly.
“I can say that I have full confidence that the league offices of the NBA and the WNBA are doing everything in their power,” Los Angeles Lakers majority owner Jeanie Buss said in a message to text
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban declined to be interviewed but said via email, “I hope it comes out soon.”
Five NBA teams (in Phoenix, Brooklyn, Indiana, Minnesota, and Washington, DC) are owned by WNBA teams. The owners of those teams declined to comment, but each of those WNBA teams has publicly supported Griner.
Engelbert said the NBA had not asked team owners to avoid talking about Griner. He is part of the NBA’s senior management team and reports to Silver.
“The suggestion has been to support the administration and the State Department in the work they are doing in this complex situation to bring Brittney home,” Engelbert said.
The players have shown 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 in Griner.
On June 2, the day of Silver’s NBA Finals press conference, Anthony posted a video on Twitter talking about Griner. 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, a Celtics forward and vice president of the players’ union, had the jerseys shipped overnight to his teammates.
Stephen Curry and LeBron James, two of the NBA’s biggest stars, have also spoken publicly about Griner.
Tamika Tremaglio, the executive director of the NBA players union, said she had been in contact with Terri Jackson, the executive director of the WNBA union…