Brittney Griner pleaded guilty in a Russian court to drugs charges that could see her face 10 years in prison; Update: SHE IS FREE

Shogun

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dont respond with emotion and miss the point
in that I said in the beginning paragraph that the WNBA charade and storyline does not actually matter in the grand scheme of things
similar to how you posted "60 people detained" and then tried to drop some pseudo questionnaire that basically aligns with how I feel anyways
I'm saying, just like the other 60 people this is only being blown up because of WNBA... but its also being downplayed because its WNBA too.... when in reality its exactly like you said ... another average statistic. The president talking about specifically her is exactly what I meant when I said "being a martyr" they are playing like she's important while also shytting on her for only being WNBA ... when in fact russia pays and treated her better until this situation.

my whole point was to show that shes stuck in situational judgement, during terrible timing and used as a pawn. But you cant be a pawn and also deemed worthless at the same time. She's getting dragged really for no reason from both sides... and all she did was her job... you can hold the weed accountable but any other time in reality... she would not be charged the same way. They would have fined her heavily and she would have continued to play in Russia during offseason and probably had to do propaganda shyt saying how amazing it is and more revenue and people should come contribute.

and same situation, nobody said white men were your martyrs :mjlol: this post is worse than the one above. I said she is being used. Which is obvious because that's why we are in this thread. I never said she wasnt guilty or accountable like your second sentence. My WNBA debate was based around all the people in here who said "Well fukk the WNBA and they are broke bum bytches" .... the NBA owns the WNBA so it is their responsibility as a billion dollar, global company to care...

not to just fukk off and separate the WNBA into its own entity when it doesnt feel like contributing to their own accountability of ownership


yall are both saying it doesnt matter and quoting me... when I'm saying the same shyt. None of the shyt matters. Its only being blown up based around her being on TV ... but its being downplayed as "She's just a bum bytch in WNBA" that's not her fault... thats the NBA's policy that devalues the womens basketball brand. She's catching blame for a simple marijuana charge... all the other shyt is extra talking points.


people are saying generic shyt in here and dodging the fact that alot of responsibility is on the same shyt you are giving a pass to
if you pretend WNBA under NBA is bum bytch shyt and losing money, and they should let it die or stop caring
then you have to wonder how other countries can afford to pay women players 3x more without NBA
I dont see how that shyt adds up to 30 pages of people in here. Its a separate convo ... you're saying Russia Basketball has more power and money than the NBA to create better contracts?
The Russian government pays these wnba players crazy salaries. It’s standard authoritarian propaganda.


The reason why the wnba’s financial failings are relevant is because the very people on their soap box about sexism in America wouldnt spend a dime on actually supporting the league. If they did, rather than just run their mouth all the time, then perhaps the players would make money in America and not have to sellout to the Kremlin
 

iceberg_is_on_fire

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I understand that this is a passionate discussion but people are letting their bias/emotions severely cloud their judgment and decision making. These are the facts of this case and I'll address each.

  1. Russia has invaded Ukraine and the United States has sided, as a nation, with Ukraine.
  2. Russia has strong drug laws.
  3. Brittney Griner took drugs deemed illegal in Russia, to Russia, willingly.
  4. The WNBA cannot support itself by itself.

1. We have been in a cold war of sorts with Russia for nearly a century. What was once two superpowers is now one with the former being lead by an ex KGB spy oligarch that wants to use his last days to restore his homeland to 'glory.' There are so many layers that all the time in the world can't fully explain it but this is the backdrop to the story.

2. Article 229¹(2)(c) of the Russian criminal code – carries a minimum sentence of five to 10 years “deprivation of freedom“. This is what she was charged with. They didn't give her a trumped up charge. They charged her based on the law on the books. Now, we can argue that their laws about cannabis is draconian and stupid, and while I agree with that assessment, it's still the law and her sentence is par for the course.

3. Ignorance of laws in other countries does not offer defense for yourself. Y'all really think if a Chinese dude came over here and cooked a dog, the United States Justice system is going to be 'cool, we know that's how you get down over there.' Don't be silly. She's not a political prisoner in a sense that she was abducted from country unknown and sent to a remote prison. As far as they are concerned, based on the laws, she brought an illegal substance into the country.

4. WNBA crossroads: league looks to cut losses, hire president

The WNBA says it has lost significant money the last 22 years, including $12 million last season.

“On average (we’ve lost) over $10 million every year we’ve operated,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told The Associated Press in October.

This was in 2018. League has operated for 25 years. The league, based on linear math, has lost $250 million dollars since its inception. What normal business can afford to do that? They are honestly fortunate that Adam Silver hasn't shut down the league and continues to subsidize it. So, arguing about pay equity isn't in good faith here. Pay equity means that you provide the same value for the same job. The value provided in sports is the amount of commerce a company can earn from your performance on the court. Lebron James and Brittney Griner can both score 50 points the same night. Where is most of the eyeballs going to be? That's the the nature of the beast.


Countries with tense relationships with the U.S. are more often the same ones that offer the most to America’s basketball greats. In Russia, which is regarded as the most lucrative overseas market for players, teams are typically owned by the country’s oligarchs. A Russian mining corporation and its billionaire owner Iskandar Makhmudov funds the club where Griner competed, UMMC Ekaterinburg.
Several American media reports suggest that the Russian fortunes being sunk into women’s basketball are part of a money laundering scheme.

In 2016, ESPN’s Kate Fagan visited Griner and Taurasi in Russia and observed near-empty arenas, cheap tickets, and an apparent lack of any significant culture around watching women’s basketball as signs that suspicious funds were bankrolling Russian teams.

The L.A. Times reported the late founder of Spartak, Shabtai Kalmanovich, appeared to make little money off the franchise that recruited Americans like Bird and Taurasi. No one even bothered to sell game tickets, he told the newspaper, but Kalmanovich put the players in a gated house, gave them money to dine at the best restaurants, and sent them on vacations.

Henry Abbott, another former ESPN basketball writer who now runs the digital media company True Hoop, ran the money-laundering rumors by a source: “I asked a veteran of the game, and she laughed, asked if I really didn’t know. Did they get better sponsors, sell more tickets I wondered? She felt sorry for me, being so dumb. Then announced: It’s money laundering,” Abbott tweeted in March.
That's the story. People want to give lazy takes on this.

That being said, she chose basketball as a career and it has paid her handsomely for it. However, she didn't watch how she moved and for that, I can't feel all that sorry. They are treating her like any other person.
 
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Greenhornet

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The Russian government pays these wnba players crazy salaries. It’s standard authoritarian propaganda.


The reason why the wnba’s financial failings are relevant is because the very people on their soap box about sexism in America wouldnt spend a dime on actually supporting the league. If they did, rather than just run their mouth all the time, then perhaps the players would make money in America and not have to sellout to the Kremlin
majority of money from the entire league comes from TV deals ... the stadiums are all the same size
I will admit you are winning this convo like a motherfukker but ill joust with you :russ:

at least you're coming with facts and reality, that's rare on this website.
 

NYC Rebel

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It's nor crazy whatsoever..It's Russian law
My boy is an attorney and researched the times given as per “russian law” and said it was an average 5 years.

And in his words, “the Russian sentencing practice is pretty much on par with how the USA sentence black folk for the same crimes as white folks.”
 
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Dwight Howard

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Look at all the drama her big goofy ass caused... Now we gonna have to release a real international arms dealer and threat all because she wanna vape...smh
We don't have to do shyt, but common human decency says a person shouldn't lose 9 years of their life for smoking weed. she happens to be a celebrity and drawing attention to essentially a human rights violation. It's ugly and archaic thus the reason it's drawing attention. You choose to blame Brittney instead of the corrupt ass country locking her up for 10 years over weed. Your perspective is wack.
 
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