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Why did Brittney Griner miss the 2022 WNBA season?
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Brittney Griner
Basketball star Brittney Griner, a center for the Phoenix Mercury, shown during a 2019 WNBA game.
Brittney Griner missed the 2022 WNBA season because she was detained in Russia on drug charges.1
On February 17, 2022, Griner was arrested at a Russian airport after officials claimed her luggage contained vape cartridges with cannabis oil, which is illegal in the country. Following a trial, she was found guilty of smuggling illegal drugs and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. Her detainment, which many viewed as politically motivated, lasted until December 2022, when she was released in a prisoner exchange.1