Brittney Griner’s release garners positive reaction from sports figures: ‘She is coming home’

Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison on Thursday in a swap for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner’s release delighted the sports world after months of the Biden administration angling for her release from Russian custody since she was arrested in February, right before the start of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Griner was arrested in February for bringing in vape cartridges containing oils derived from cannabis through a Moscow airport as she was returning to the country to play for a basketball league in the country.

About 10 months later, just weeks before the Christmas holiday, Griner is coming home.

BRITTNEY GRINER RELEASED FROM RUSSIAN PRISON IN SWAP FOR CONVICTED ARMS DEALER

She was arrested at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow on Feb. 17 after Russian authorities said she had vape cartridges with cannabis oil inside her luggage. On Aug. 4, Griner was given a nine-year sentence after pleading guilty, arguing that she had been prescribed cannabis for her pain and inadvertently packed it. Her sentence was upheld in October, and she was later transferred to a penal colony.

Bout is known as the “Merchant of Death,” and the possible swap for him was floated back in May. He was in the middle of a 25-year sentence in federal prison after he was convicted of conspiracy to kill Americans relating to the support of a Colombian terrorist organization.