I’m trying to guess why LeBron might say something like this and I can only really come up with two explanations. The first is that he’s way too comfortable on this show and just said something dumb because he didn’t think about it for even a nanosecond before he spoke. The other possibility is that he intentionally said something outrageous knowing that it would get a lot of attention, which in turn would help raise the profile of this issue. Maybe there are other possibilities but that’s all I’ve got based on this brief clip.
The actual show won’t be out until Friday so we’ll have to wait until then to see LeBron’s comments in context, but TMZ is running the story based on a promo for the show.
LeBron James says Brittney Griner’s been in captivity for way too long without the U.S. bringing her home, so if he were the WNBA star, he’d question returning to America.
Bron made the comments during a recent taping of “The Shop” … when the conversation apparently turned to the incarcerated American hoops star.
“Now, how can she feel like America has her back? I would be feeling like, ‘Do I even want to go back to America?’”
Again, maybe this makes more sense in context but the actual quotes are in this clip. Here it is.
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So, let’s take these in turn. First, how can Brittney Griner feel like America has her back? Well, she ought to feel that way because the Secretary of State has been working on her case for weeks. Sec. Blinken spoke to her wife Cherelle back in May. Also in May Cherelle gave an interview in which she called on President Biden to personally intervene in Brittney’s case.
More recently, President Biden and Vice President Harris both spoke to Cherelle about Brittney’s situation. TMZ notes that LeBron’s comments may have been filmed before that happened but clearly Griner’s situation is not being ignored by the US government.
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The question is this: What exactly does LeBron (or anyone) think Joe Biden can do here? Brittney Griner is, unfortunately, being held captive on dubious charges by a belligerent dictatorship currently involved in a proxy war with the US in Ukraine. We are literally sending weapons to Ukraine to kill Russian troops at this moment. So there is probably no easy solution to what is essentially a trans-national hostage situation. Seriously, I’m as ready as anyone to call Joe Biden a failure but in this case he’s not really in a position to make Russia comply.
And that brings us to LeBron’s other comment. “I would be feeling like ‘Do I even want to go back to America?’” I’m sorry but this is just daffy. Griner has been in a Russian jail cell for more than 140 days. Does LeBron really think she’d rather stay there for the next 10 years than come home to her wife, family and fans all because she’s disappointed in America’s response? That sounds like the kind of thing someone who a) hasn’t been in a Russian prison for months and b) has a low opinion of America would say.
In reality, Griner is extremely eager to get home to America as soon as possible. The idea that she’s be stuck in Russia for years to come is the stuff of nightmares. I’m not speculating because Griner wrote a letter to the president earlier this month in which she said so.
Brittney Griner, the W.N.B.A. star who has been detained in Russia on drug charges since February, sent a handwritten letter to President Biden on Monday asking him not to forget about her.
“As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” Griner said in an excerpt from the letter shared by her representatives.
She continued: “I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American detainees. Please do all you can to bring us home.”
Again, maybe this interview was filmed before Griner’s letter became public. Even if that’s the case, it shows LeBron’s intuition on this point is nothing short of awful. LeBron seems to think Brittney Griner was feeling something like “Forget you, America!” but in reality what she’s feeling is “Please don’t forget me, America.” And that’s understandable. She’s sitting in a cell all day completely cut off from the world.
The good news is I don’t think America is going to forget her. She’s been convicted in what appears to me to be a sham trial and she’ll probably be sentenced to some absurd time. But all of this is likely just for show, a prelude to Russia making a prisoner swap down the line.
Unfortunately, when that happens isn’t up to us. If Russia is willing to rain shells on civilians in Ukraine for months on end in a war to prop up Putin’s sense of history, they certainly won’t draw the line at unjustly imprisoning a US basketball star. Short of sending in SEAL Team Six for a rescue, there’s not much we can do but keep the public pressure on and wait for a moment when Russia wants something from us.
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