WNBA player Brittney Griner and her wife Cherelle are officially expecting their first child together this summer, following an announcement on Instagram.
“Can’t believe we’re less than three months away from meeting our favorite human being,” they captioned a picture of themselves holding hands over an ultrasound of the child, using the hashtags “#BabyGrinerComingSoon” and “#July2024.”
In 2022, Brittney Griner spent almost 300 days in custody in Russia after being wrongfully detained.
During the WNBA off-season, Griner had spent years playing on a Russian women’s basketball team. The professional player was arrested in a Moscow airport while en route to return to UMMC Ekaterinburg.
Authorities said that she had brought into Russia vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, a substance that is prohibited.
Griner testified that she had unintentionally packed the cannabis oil. Still, she was nonetheless given a nine-year prison sentence for smuggling drugs.
After discussions and a prisoner swap involving Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, Brittney Griner was freed in December 2022 after the US State Department determined that she had been wrongfully detained.
Her detention brought attention to the pay ceilings that WNBA players in the US face, which has forced athletes to travel abroad to increase their pay during the off-season.
After launching her book, Griner revealed that she went to Russia because her salary was too low.
In 2022, Griner expected to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg and earn close to $1 million; this was significantly more than her WNBA salary, which averaged less than $130,000, as reported by NPR.
Despite her traumatic experience after spending time in a Russian prison, Griner is soon to welcome good news as she reveals the gender and the name of her first child alongside her wife.
In addition to the revelations, the Griners also released an exclusive video from their most recent baby shower. The couple and their guests played typical baby shower games, like “a race to see who can finish a baby bottle fastest and dressing a baby doll while blindfolded.”
Their baby boy, Bash, is expected to arrive in July.
Bash will be Cherelle Griner’s first child and Brittney’s third. Brittney Griner reportedly shares two older twins with fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson.
