This is scary stuff here. Brittney Griner is a person of international importance due to her being one of the best basketball players in the world, male or female. She also appears to be the only WNBA player remaining in Russia. Her continued captivity is likely to be a major point of frustration between the USA and Russia during this already fragile time, and could spell gigantic implications for not just the WNBA and her team the Phoenix Mercury, but for the world stage. What is it going to take for Griner to come back to the United States?
As well, I've touched on it on the Dreamin' Demon before, but I'll say it again. A citizen doing something criminal or otherwise wrong in their own nation is a bad enough thing to do. But when a foreigner commits the same offense in the nation, there are worse and deeper implications to it. A Russian national transporting vape cartridges with cannabis oil via airplane is bad enough; an American transporting vape cartridges with cannabis oil airplane is far more complicated, and even more so when the person (allegedly) doing so is world-famous. When a person is in a nation foreign from their own origin, they are de facto representatives of their own nations to the community that they are temporarily inhabiting and/or visiting. There is national reputation and diplomacy at stake, which is not an issue if they behave themselves and are productive members of the community and region while they are there, but can become a lot more fragile if the foreigner break the host country's laws, rules, customs, or mores. There is simply more baggage to a foreign national breaking a law than there is for the indigenous citizen doing the same thing. Nations have different rules for dealing with the same infractions and acts, so someone breaking a rule in one nation that is something benign in their own home nation is at an unpredictable and fragile circumstance in the nation they are captive in. For another example of such fissures coming to the fore in a basketball context, read about the situation that LiAngelo Ball (son of LaVar), Jalen Hill, and Cody Riley got themselves into in China.
I am de facto against vaping, and think that it is a poor way to spend free time, while also helping rot lungs and other internal organs; it is not a competent or decent substitute to smoking, and is only seen as such do to propagandistic advertising. Also, vaping is marketed with unique flavors so as to have appeal to children and youth, even if unintentionally so; no doubt that such is exceptionally alarming. Essentially, I don't do it, and will not be interested in doing so, and would not want any theoretical kids engaging with these substances. But I will not litigate other people doing so, as I do not think it to be a great moral repugnance for any given person to engage in vaping within a controlled and non-professional setting. In other words, I find Brittney Griner's interest in vaping disagreeable, but also not a big deal so long as she can keep herself relatively healthy and be in shape to play basketball.
What is most important is that Brittney Griner come back to the United States as soon as possible, so that she can resume her life as usual and be reunited with her beautiful wife Cherelle. I know this is unlikely per se, but I hope that this is not another situation similar to the tragic one involving North Korea holding Otto Warmbier captive. I wonder how Brittney, a professional athlete who is healthier and fitter than the average 31-year-old, will be able to withstand Russian prison. My heart goes out to her, Cherelle, and the Phoenix Mercury while this unfolds.
The 2022 WNBA season starts on May 6.
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