Brittney Griner missed celebrating her wife’s 30th birthday last summer because she was detained in Russia. But now she’s making up for it with a sweet gesture.
On Tuesday, the 32-year-old WNBA center surprised her wife Cherelle Griner, 30, with a belated birthday bash and the latter shared images of the gesture on her Instagram story, PEOPLE reports. The celebration comes three months ahead of Cherelle Griner’s actual birthday on July 1.
“No, it’s not my birthday,” she explained, “But bae missed my 30th last summer, obviously.”
(L-R) Cherelle Griner and Brittney Griner speak during the “54th NAACP Image Awards” one on Feb. 25, 2023 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images for BET)
Last February, authorities at a Moscow airport detained the Phoenix Mercury player after discovering marijuana cartridges in her luggage. Brittney Griner was ultimately charged and convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to nine years in prison. After spending 10 months detained in the country, she was set free in December after President Joe Biden negotiated her release in an exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, theGrio reported.
“It’s never too late to celebrate me if you ask me!” Cherelle Griner said of her birthday celebration in her Instagram story, according to PEOPLE.
Brittney Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, will play her first game since her return to the United States during the team’s season opener this spring. The Phoenix Mercury will take on the Los Angeles Sparks on May 19 in Los Angeles.
Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner (42, center) is congratulated on a play against the Seattle Storm in the first half of the second round of the WNBA basketball playoffs on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021 in Everett, Washington. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
In the meantime, Brittney Griner is advocating for the release of Americans who are detained in Russia, such as former Marine Paul Whelan. He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison on espionage charges.
On Monday, she also called for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovitch, who is accused of spying, PEOPLE reported on March 30. She appealed to the Biden administration to “bring Evan and all wrongfully detained Americans home.”
A statement, which the couple signed, is posted on Brittney Griner’s Instagram page. “Our hearts are filled with great concern for Evan Gershkovitch and his family since Evan’s detainment in Russia,” the couple states. “We must do everything in our power to bring him and all Americans home.”
The Griners continued, “We are grateful for President Biden and his administration’s deep commitment to rescue Americans … Every American who is taken is ours to fight for and every American returned is a win for us all.”
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