Brittney Griner attends the Met Gala with wife Cherelle after Russian penal colony release

WNBA star Brittney Griner looked chic on the famous steps of New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art as she attended the 2023 Met Gala with wife Cherelle.

The 6-foot-9 center was dressed by Calvin Klein and wore a long taupe blazer with matching slacks and a semi-sheer top in a similar shade underneath.

Her appearance at the event comes nearly five months after her release from a Russian sentence colony on December 8.

Her hair was kept simple as it was still short after she was forced to cut off her locks as the brutal conditions of the penal colony caused her to freeze after the showers.

She walked the carpet next to her wife Cherelle, who wore a long, strapless white dress that hugged and complimented her figure.

Griner was dressed by Calvin Klein and wore a long taupe blazer with matching slacks

The Phoenix Mercury player wore a semi-sheer top in a similar muted shade underneath

Cherelle completed the look with matching silver statement earrings, a bracelet and ring and a white clutch.

“It’s dripping off us now,” Griner said of their appearance.

She told Elle in 2013 that the last time she wore a dress was for her high school graduation, at the request of her mother, and vowed never to wear a dress again.

Cherelle acknowledged the couple’s importance in attending the glamorous event together, highlighting the fact that her wife was detained around this time last year.

“At this time last year, I missed my wife, so to have her here, to be in this moment — breathtaking,” she told LaLa Anthony on Vogue’s red carpet live stream.

Griner spoke to the media on Wednesday – the first time since being released on a prisoner exchange that allowed arms dealer Viktor Bout to return to his native Russia.

She burst into tears during the press conference after a reporter struggled to control her emotions and began to cry as she asked the opening question.

The six-foot-tall center shone on the famous steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The couple posed together on the white, red and blue carpet in New York City

On Sunday, she was back in practice with her Mercury teammates ahead of the new season, before flying to New York for the first Monday in May — the traditional date of the Met Gala.

“It’s everything I wanted it to be, just find my groove, just get back into it,” said Griner.

‘Am I where I want to be? No, because the last time I was with my team, I was against Chicago in the Finals, and as much as I want to be “Finals BG” now, that’s not the case.

“So, just give myself some grace and my teammates just pick me up. But I definitely feel like I’m in a good place to start training camp.

“I mean, I didn’t fall out, they didn’t have to get a stretcher or oxygen or anything, so I think I’m pretty good.”

Griner worked out her release date had President Biden not exchanged her freedom for Russia’s “Death Merchant” after exercise – October 25, 2030.

“If it had been the full nine, I think that would have been my release date,” Griner added.

‘Would have been very different. I don’t know if I would have been on court at the time. But yeah, I honestly prepared for the long haul.

‘You never know. But when it came quickly I was really happy and knew I couldn’t wait to get back on track.”

Griner, a national champion with Baylor in 2012 and WNBA champion with the Mercury two years later, supplemented her income by playing in the Russian league since 2014.

But when he returned to the country in February 2022, the Houston resident was arrested at an airport outside Moscow with cartridges of hash oil, according to Russian security.

Against the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, Griner was found guilty and sentenced to nine out of a possible 10 years in a Russian penal colony, which she reported on in November.

However, she was released a month later after the US State Department negotiated a prisoner exchange for Bout.

The eight-time WNBA All-Star re-signed with Phoenix in February and is gearing up to earn $165,000 for the upcoming season.

Griner will make her official return to court on May 19, when she and the Mercury will take on the Los Angeles Sparks on ABC/ESPN. She hasn’t played for the Mercury since 2021, when she led Phoenix to the WNBA Finals before losing to the Chicago Sky.