# Why no critical discussion on Brittney Griner's drug bust? {She's been released as of 2022-12-08} **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 27, 2022, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668 "2022-07-27T20:50:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/181 "2022-10-26T19:45:58Z")
Sure - which was my original observation. I didn’t know why the press made it seem that Americans ought to care abut THIS idiot, or that the US ought to take any specific action to help them out. I agree that BG’s punishment seems to greatly outweigh her crime. At this point, my sole objection was to **Chingon’s** oft-repeated unfounded vitriol under the guise of support for victims of prejudice. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/182 "2022-10-26T20:06:12Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I didn’t know why the press made it seem that Americans ought to care abut THIS idiot, or that the US ought to take any specific action to help them out. A.) Calling her an idiot is harsher than is called for. Even if she is responsible for a screw-up (and again it is absolutely plausible that in this current climate she was set up), we all make absent-minded fuck-ups. This is serious one, but most of us do that at some point in our life as well. Excoriating her in her current straights is…unkind. B.) The U.S. is and should be involved because she is a citizen being unjustly persecuted. Perhaps not unjustly prosecuted, but definitely unjustly persecuted - as even you admit her sentence is grossly disproportionate to the offense. She’s a public story because she’s a celebrity, even if a minor one. And Russia is making a political spectacle out of this. It wasn’t the U.S. that offered to free her for an imprisoned arms dealer. Whether they set her up or just took advantage, Russia is playing political games and driving the drama. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/183 "2022-10-26T20:44:53Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Calling her an idiot is harsher than is called for. Even if she is responsible for a screw-up (and again it is absolutely plausible that in this current climate she was set up), we all make absent-minded fuck-ups. This is serious one, but most of us do that at some point in our life as well. Fair enough. I have been criticized in the past - on-line and IRL, for using the word to describe lapses in judgment, oversights, rudeness, etc. - including poor judgment of my own. Yeah, on the one hand, she is being treated unfairly. But, OTOH, she did - at least in part - bring this upon herself. In the universe of things I care about and want my country to take action on, this is terribly low in my personal ranking. I readily acknowledge that many people feel differently. As I’ve said before, if you don’t want Russia to arrest you for possession of pot, don’t travel to Russia. And if you DO, pack carefully enough to leave your pot at home. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/184 "2022-10-26T22:52:07Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > her sentence is grossly disproportionate to the offense Just to emphasize this, [this story about Audrey Lorber has been making the rounds](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-releases-american-teen-audrey-lorber-today-jailed-attempting-to-import-marijuana-2019-09-17/). 19 years old, caught with 19 grams of marijuana, accused of intent to sell, pleaded guilty - served two months time served and was fined the equivalent of $235 in 2019 money, fine suspended. Russia’s treatment of Griner is an utter disgrace. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/185 "2022-10-26T23:29:45Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Well it doesn’t have to be one or the other, in the real world it can be and often is a bit of both. Although the fact that this happened to an American at the same time they were invading a neighboring democracy that bore no threat to them speaks volumes of thier intent in my opinion. This is, of course, what actually happened, but it’s not the way it is portrayed in Russian propaganda. Their (nonsensical) reason for the invasion was to defend themselves from NATO aggression through Ukraine which was going to attack them if they didn’t attack first. The Russian narrative, spread through all of their state-run television and other media, is that this isn’t a war between Russia and Ukraine, but rather a war between Russia and the ‘collective West.’ [TASS](https://tass.com/politics/1477149): > # Collective West unleashed war in Ukraine, culprit of current events — Putin > > According to the President of the Russian Federation, the West should have understood that it has already lost from the very beginning of the special operation > > MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. The collective West unleashed a war in Ukraine and is responsible for unfolding developments, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. > > “We are being told that we have unleashed the war in Donbass, in Ukraine. No, it was unleashed by the collective West after it had organized and supported the 2014 anti-constitutional armed takeover and then encouraged and justified genocide with regards to the people of Donbass. This collective West, on the whole, is the direct instigator and the culprit of today’s developments,” he said at a meeting with the leadership of the lower house of parliament and the leaders of parliamentary factions. [Russian Defense Minister on declaring partial mobilization](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/russia-at-war-not-so-much-with-ukrainian-army-as-with-collective-west-defense-minister/2690655): > Russia is at war not so much with the Ukrainian army as it is with the “collective West,” the nation’s defense minister said on Wednesday after a partial military mobilization was announced in Russia. > > The mobilization is being carried out to control “already liberated territories,” Sergei Shoigu said in a live interview with Russia 24 channel. > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > If it plays to the home crowd as well its just bonus propaganda and a safe move on thier part. It was a highly calculated move with benifits to them and little risk. A thug move. Definitely a thug move, but again I think who it is designed to primarily play to is the other way around. The target was a lesbian from the “collective West” with a corrupt, decadent drug using lifestyle who is black, which ticks off all of the boxes of Russian anti-American/Western propaganda. If you watched the video I linked earlier to the end, the Russian man taking his family on a plane to immigrate to America who learns the errors of his ways and jumps out of the plane to return to mother Russia is forced, along with the rest of the line to the bathroom, to kneel down to a black man and allow him to cut ahead of everyone else in a mockery of the kneeling for the national anthem of the BLM movement. Racism is alive and well in Russia too. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/186 "2022-10-30T02:10:18Z")
They don’t forget it; they deliberately _ignore_ it. On a right wing board I pop in on occasionally, they’re calling her an America-hating communist traitor who either deserves what she got, or got off easy and should be hanged. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/187 "2022-11-08T18:07:27Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > On a right wing board I pop in on occasionally, they’re calling her an America-hating communist traitor who either deserves what she got, or got off easy and should be hanged. Hell, the comments on Facebook are bad enough. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/188 "2022-11-08T19:16:08Z")
Are American pro basketball players refusing to play for Russian teams? That seems like a logical first step in supporting Brittney. I certainly wouldn’t travel to Russia, sjgn contracts and play on their teams. It was different before the war. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/189 "2022-11-08T22:14:35Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Are American pro basketball players refusing to play for Russian teams? I’m thinking that they all went home due to the [level 4 travel advisory](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/russia-travel-advisory.html) against going to Russia. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/190 "2022-11-09T13:08:02Z")
Travel warnings were issued befkre Brittney went to Russia. It should help that US Officials are checking on her. The Prison is still miserable but they probably aren’t torturing Brittney Cite [MSN](https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/brittney-griner-testifies-she-was-aware-of-warnings-not-to-travel-to-russia/ar-AA101dSb) > **[U.S. officials met with Brittney Griner in Russia, State Department says](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/us-officials-met-brittney-griner-russia-state-dept-says-rcna55521)** > > White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Griner “is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/191 "2022-11-09T14:58:04Z")
She made a mistake in judgement but is clearly being scapegoated for political purposes. She deserves my sympathy and American advocacy. > **[Brittney Griner begins transfer to Russian penal colony, attorneys say | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/09/europe/brittney-griner-transfer-to-russian-penal-colony-intl-hnk/index.html)** > > US women's basketball star Brittney Griner is being moved to a Russian penal colony where she is due to serve the remainder of a nine-year drug smuggling sentence that was upheld in late October. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/192 "2022-11-12T22:52:15Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > These Mother Fuckers just invaded a peaceful country that was of no threat to them. Why are people believing anything they say or do? That’s a valid point. But why would you visit a country during such an event? And why wouldn’t you take extra care to avoid packing drugs that are illegal in a country known for it’s fractured legal system? I don’t think it’s wise to trade an arms dealer during the Russian war with Ukraine. It appears they are struggling to maintain war supplies. He would be an asset to the war effort. I also think there’s a high likelihood that the war will be short and Putin removed from office as a result of it. That would be a better time to broker a release and with better terms. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/193 "2022-11-12T23:26:24Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > But why would you visit a country during such an event? And why wouldn’t you take extra care to avoid packing drugs that are illegal in a country known for it’s fractured legal system? Possibly because she thought it was economically advantageous to herself and, perhaps, after a lifetime of receiving preferential treatment as an athlete, she didn’t figure rules applied to her? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/194 "2022-11-13T03:32:21Z")
Even if you entertain the idea that professional athletes are a bit isolated their agents should be clued in to what’s going on. There was a [Level 4 travel advisory](https://ru.usembassy.gov/security-alert-update-to-travel-advisory-for-russia-january-23-2022/) warning not to go to Russia on January 23 2022. Whoever was looking out for her career should have advised her of the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/195 "2022-11-13T03:50:55Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > after a lifetime of receiving preferential treatment as an athlete, she didn’t figure rules applied to her? …nah. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/196 "2022-11-13T04:48:42Z")
You sem to think she deserves 9 years in a penal colony for her poor judgment in smuggling in what was a misdemeanor amount of painkiller, had the court followed the law. Your smug gloating about it doesn’t reflect well on you. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/197 "2022-11-13T14:27:28Z")
“Deserve” is not a word that comes to my mind. Instead, it is more a matter of not being terribly concerned with someone bearing unfortunate - yet foreseeable - results from their stupid/careless/entitled/irresponsible/negligent/what-have-you behavior. BG could have avoided this entirely by - not going to Russia, and/or paying minimal attention to packing once she chose to go to Russia. Quite often you hear of people bearing outsized implications for their poor choices/careless actions. I do not feel they “deserve” those implications, nor does their misfortune bring me pleasure. But I don’t really care about them either. Smug? Perhaps. But instead, I think of myself as someone who has lived a pretty ordinary life - in part by not engaging in activities that would risk my comfortable, boring family existence. And maybe I’m somewhat jealous that I never had the opportunity to be a highly paid athlete, entertainer, etc. So when someone chooses otherwise - and it turns out such choice was unwise? Well, too bad for them. BG is just a high profile example of someone who miscalculated as to the risks of their choices. There are countless such folk. To the extent I am sympathetic to such individuals, BG’s situation does not move me. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/198 "2022-11-13T16:01:43Z")
Highly paid by the WNBA? Salaries max around $250k a season and that’s for the super stars. I feel very bad for her, she’s worked very hard in BB, and is not some mega millionaire her net worth sits at 5mil, that’s almost the average yearly salary at the NBA. Yeah she fucked up in small way with life altering consequences, she has my sympathy. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/199 "2022-11-13T16:57:05Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Highly paid by the WNBA? Salaries max around $250k a season and that’s for the super stars. > > I feel very bad for her, she’s worked very hard in BB, and is not some mega millionaire her net worth sits at 5mil, Well, peoples’ frames of reference likely vary. $250 is considerably more than I’ve made in any year, and I suspect $250k/yr and net worth $5 mill (at age 32) exceeds some 80-90% of Americans. And I’m not sure base salary alone is sufficient for any comparison. How much did she pay for college? I’m presuming WNBA players enjoy at least SOME perks if only free shoes, admission to events… Does she earn $$$ from endorsements? Off season income? (I doubt she was playing in Russia for free. Could she have played somewhere less authoritarian/risky for less $$$? Her choice.) I have no idea what retirement benefits WNBA offers and whether - when she ages out of playing, she intends to pursue another sport related career (coaching/commentating), a non-sports career (no doubt benefitting from her past fame and accomplishments), or if she expects to “retire.” So no, she ain’t ultrarich - like many/most NBA players. But, yeah, I personally think “highly paid” is apt. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668/200 "2022-11-13T19:09:45Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I have no idea what retirement benefits WNBA offers The WNBA has _no_ retirement plan other than a standard 401(k) with the IRS max of ~20k. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-critical-discussion-on-brittney-griners-drug-bust-shes-been-released-as-of-2022-12-08/968668.md?page=11)