NBA superstar Stephen Curry issued a passionate speech Tuesday night recognizing WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been incarcerated in Russia for more than 240 days.
The shout-out took place during the Golden State Warriors’ championship ring ceremony before its opening season tipoff against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Curry, the Warriors’ longtime star, shined a light on Griner, who was spending her birthday behind bars. “We want to continue to use our platform and the opportunity to shout out a very special member of the basketball community,” Curry told the crowd.
“Brittney Griner’s birthday is today; she’s 32 years old,” Curry said.
“We want to continue to let her name be known and we pray,” the NBA star said, noting it had been 243 days since she was incarcerated in Russia. “We hope that she comes home soon, that everybody’s doing their part to get her home.”
Griner released a message earlier Tuesday, thanking those fighting to get her back to the U.S.
“Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home,” she said in a statement shared by her attorneys, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov. “All the support and love are definitely helping me.”
The eight-time All-Star center for the Phoenix Mercury has been in Russian custody since February after police found vape canisters containing cannabis oil inside her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
Blagovolina issued a seperate statement on behalf of Griner:
“Today is of course a difficult day for Brittney. Not only [because] this is her birthday in jail away from her family, teammates and friends, but she is very stressed in anticipation of the appeal hearing on 25 Oct.”
The Russian court gave the WNBA star an appeal date of October 25 in an effort to overturn the nine-year prison sentence for drug possession following her conviction on Aug. 4.