Home/Article

via Getty

via Getty

The situation of WNBA star Brittney Griner in Russia has not changed. She has been detained for more than half a year now. The Phoenix Mercury center was arrested in a Moscow airport for possession of drugs. She was then sentenced to 9-years in jail. Her representatives have further appealed. However, there have been no improvements so far. There were suggestions of a prisoner swap to get Griner and a U.S. Marine veteran back home in exchange for a Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout. But many are against this to let go of the notorious arms dealer.

After Griner’s detainment, there was research conducted to find out people from which state supported her the most on Twitter. The survey took into account more than 180,000 tweets and looked for tweets with phrases like “free brittney griner,” “bring brittney home,” “#wearebg,” “#freebrittneygriner,” and more that expressed support for Griner.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

READ MORE?She Would Be the Worst Pregnant Lady Ever?: Ex-Wife Once Revealed Why Brittney Griner Didn?t Carry Their Children

And as per the results, her home state of Texas is not even in the top 10 states that supported her. On the other hand, Arizona, home of the Phoenix Mercury franchise, topped the list.

Brittney Griner did not want to keep quiet

Interestingly, Griner was a college icon in Texas and led the Baylor Bears to a national championship. However, she once claimed that her school tried to keep her silent about her sexuality. The towering center did not know about her college’s official stance on homosexuality. Even though she had come out publicly at the time, everyone close to her knew about her.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

As per reports, when she sent some tweets which revealed her same-sex attraction, the school instructed her to keep quiet about it. Baylor policy classifies “homosexual acts” as sexual misconduct and as “misuses of God’s gifts.” Baylor University was chartered in 1845 and is the oldest and continuously operating university in Texas.

So Griner kept quiet until her senior year and after that did whatever she wanted to. And did not care about the repercussions from her school. At the time, she had become one of the best women’s college basketball players ever.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

WATCH THIS STORYMichael Jordans 5 Rumored Affairs After Divorce with Juanita Vanoy

After a great college career, Griner declared for the 2013 WNBA draft. The Phoenix Mercury drafted her as the #1 pick. And she came out publicly in the same year. She was an instant success in the WNBA as she helped her team win the title in 2014.