Getty Steph Curry looks on before a Golden State Warriors game.
Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry said he wanted to help in whatever way he could to push for Brittney Griner’s release, but the White House denied the assist.
Curry spoke out this week about his political advocacy, saying in an interview with Rolling Stone that he reached out to the Biden administration to offer his help in pressing Russia to release the Phoenix Mercury star. But Curry says the White House wasn’t very interested in his help — and even encouraged him to keep quiet on the issue.
Curry Wanted to Speak Out on Griner
Griner was detained by Russian authorities in February after being caught with cannabis oil cartridges at a Moscow airport. While she was behind bars awaiting trial, Curry said he reached out to contacts in the Biden White House to offer his help in pressing for her release. Griner later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
At the time that Curry first reached out, the White House was working behind the scenes with Russian authorities and didn’t want much public pressure. So Curry said the White House told him to keep quiet.
“They were telling us, ‘Don’t say anything,'” Curry said.
Griner’s detention was not made public until March 5, and gradually the pressure grew for her release. The White House would label her imprisonment a wrongful detention, and many athletes began to speak out. Curry was among them, advocating for her release in an interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews.
“It’s an unfortunate situation, it’s a tragedy,” Curry said, adding, “She needs to be home.”
Steph Curry on Brittney Griner’s detention:
“It’s an unfortunate situation, it’s a tragedy. … She needs to be home.”
NBA, WNBA Push for Griner’s Release
Many others have now joined Curry in pushing for Griner to be released. After her conviction and sentencing this summer, the NBA and WNBA issued a joint statement calling it “unjustified.”
“Today’s verdict and sentencing is unjustified and unfortunate, but not unexpected and Brittney Griner remains wrongly detained,” Commissioners Cathy Engelbert and Adam Silver said in the statement, via SI.com. “The WNBA and NBA’s commitment to her safe return has not wavered and it is our hope that we are near the end of this process of finally bringing BG home to the United States.”
But even as the White House has continued to work on her release, officials have reportedly pushed back on the help offered by another former NBA star. Former Chicago Bulls star and Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman said in August that he had gotten authorization to travel to Russia to push for her release.
“I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,” Rodman told NBC News. “I’m trying to go this week.”
A senior official pushed back, telling Reuters that the White House was still trying to work directly with Russia and was worried that any efforts beyond that could actually make the situation more complicated.
Stephen Curry tells Rolling Stone that his contacts in the Joe Biden administration rebuffed an offer to help the situation surrounding wrongfully detained WNBA superstar Brittney Griner.
“They were telling us, ‘Don’t say anything.'” t.co/hhy8nnbuy9
“It is public information that the administration has made a significant offer to the Russians and anything other than negotiating further through the established channel is likely to complicate and hinder release efforts,” the official said.