US basketball star Brittney Griner of WNBA says she thought about taking her own life during detention in Russian jail

WNBA star and double Olympic gold medallist Brittney Griner is escorted from a courtroom after a hearing in Khimki, just outside Moscow, Russia. Photo / AP

American basketball star Brittney Griner said she thought about killing herself during her first few weeks in a Russian jail after her 2022 arrest on drug-related charges.

Griner spoke for the first time about her months-long detention in Russia during an hour-long television interview that aired on Wednesday night on ABC (American Broadcasting Company). Her memoir, Coming Home, is set to be released on May 7.

The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) player was detained after arriving at a Moscow airport when Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges allegedly containing oil derived from cannabis.

“I wanted to take my life more than once in the first weeks,” Griner told interviewer Robin Roberts. “I felt like leaving here so badly.”

She decided against it in part because she was afraid the Russian authorities wouldn’t release her body to her family.

Her plight unfolded at the same time Russia invaded Ukraine and further heightened tensions between Russia and the United States, ending only after she was freed in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner said that before she was released she was forced to write a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“They made me write this letter. It was in Russian,” she said. “I had to ask for forgiveness and thanks from their so-called great leader. I didn’t want to do it, but at the same time I wanted to come home.”

She was disappointed when she got on the plane for the trade and that Paul Whelan, another American who has been detained in Russia, wasn’t with her.

“I walked on and didn’t see him, maybe he’s next. Maybe they will bring him next,” she said. “They closed the door and I was like, are you serious? You’re not going to let this man come home now?”

Griner plays for the Phoenix Mercury. The WNBA season begins on May 14.