Jason Whitlock offers theory why ‘more feminine’ WNBA is pivoting away from Brittney Griner as analyst lashes out at ‘anti-American’ basketball star

Sports columnist Jason Whitlock has claimed that the WNBA is turning away from Brittney Griner for more female players.

Griner spoke with ABC’s Robin Roberts earlier this week, recounting her horrific experience in a Russian prison following her 2022 arrest at a Moscow airport for cannabis possession, and is releasing a book, “Coming Home,” on May 7.

And Whitlock has suggested that the basketball superstar is trying to rebrand herself and move away from her previous “anti-American” stances to try to reposition herself within the evolving WNBA.

“She was very anti-American before she spent eight months in a Russian prison and maybe that’s all the conversion these hardcore leftists need,” Whitlock said on his podcast, “Fearless with Jason Whitlock.”

‘But I don’t buy it. I think she’s trying to reposition herself. The WNBA is starting to become more feminine and likeable.

Jason Whitlock (left) has claimed that the WNBA is turning away from Brittney Griner (right)

Griner spoke with ABC’s Robin Roberts this week and opened up about her experiences in a Russian prison

“I actually saw a friend of mine send me pictures of some LA Sparks players yesterday at, I think, an NBA game and it looked like a beauty pageant.

‘[…] I think they’re deliberately saying, “we don’t want the best players, we want the most feminine players.”

‘And it’s the right thing to do. I’m telling you, since none of the ladies are playing such an exciting basketball game except two or three, it’s better to get someone who looks feminine for ticket marketing and sales than to get someone who might be 10 or 15 percent better plays.

“And so I see the WNBA turning away from Britney Griner. And this book and this interview tour are about trying to make Brittany Griner likable, because she has been very unlikable.”

Griner had has been sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia after being caught with a cannabis oil cartridge while returning to Russia to resume playing for her European team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, in February 2022.

She was released in a 1-for-1 swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in December 2022, who has since been criticized for failing to return Paul Whelan, a US Marine jailed in 2018 on espionage charges.

Before her arrest, in 2020, she stated that she believed the national anthem should not be played during the WNBA season, adding that she would not be on the field for the anthem if it continued to be played before games .

However, upon her return to the court in May 2023, Griner stood for the national anthem before the Phoenix Mercury’s tipoff against the Los Angeles Sparks.

The sports columnist claimed that the WNBA is becoming more feminine. Pictured: Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark (L-R) at the 2024 draft in New York

“You have the right to protest, the right to speak out, to ask questions, to challenge and to do all these things,” Griner said of her U-turn, according to ESPN.

“What I’ve been through and everything, it just means a little bit more to me now. So I want to be able to stand. I was literally in a cage [in Russia] and could not stand as I wanted.

“Just the fact that I can hear my national anthem, see my flag, I definitely want to stand. Now, anyone who won’t stand their ground or won’t come out, I fully support them 100 percent. That is our right, as Americans in this great country.”

During her sit-down interview with ABC, Griner contemplated suicide due to the conditions in the Russian penal colony, which made her feel “less than human.”

“I wanted to end my life more than once in those first weeks,” she said in the sit-down interview on 20/20: Prisoner of Russia on Wednesday evening. “I was so excited to get out of here.”

“I didn’t think I could get through what I needed to. I’ve definitely thought about it,” she added about contemplating suicide.

“But then I thought, what if they didn’t release my body to my family? And I thought: I can’t do that to them. I have to put up with this.”

Griner stood for the national anthem during her first game back, despite previously protesting it

Griner’s suicidal thoughts came in the town of Yavas in Mordovia, a region known for its prison camps.

The basketball superstar detailed the harrowing circumstances she endured, including finding a “large knife” in her cell when she first entered.

“When we walk into the cell, there’s a bathroom there. There’s a little rinkity sink that leaks and then just adds a layer of dust, dirt, grime, and blood stains. Just dirty,” she said.

“I had a few shirts, a few sweaters, the shoes on my feet,” she continued. ‘I tore one of my shirts to pieces and cleaned myself with one. I used one as toilet paper. With my dirty, dirty hole in the ground with feces everywhere.

“That was the moment I felt the dirtiest and less than human.”

For support, call Samaritans on 116123 in the UK or visit www.samaritans.org, or the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline on 988 in the US.