The WNBA is awarding Brittney Griner an honorary spot at the WNBA All-Star Game, Al Jazeera reports. Cathy Engelbert, WNBA Commissioner, said that starters were chosen based on fan, media and player voting.
“During each season of Brittney’s career in which there has been an All-Star Game, she has been selected as an All-Star,” Engelbert said.
She continued, saying “it is not difficult to imagine that if BG [Griner] were here with us this season, she would once again be selected and would, no doubt, show off her incredible talents. So, it is only fitting that she be named as an honorary starter today and we continue to work on her safe return to the US.”
Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson received the most fan votes and were selected as co-captains for the WNBA game. Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles, who are both retiring at the end of the season, will join them. This will be Bird’s 13th All-Star game. Fowles is currently injured but has been selected for her eighth game.
NBA coaches will vote for the 12 reserves and the co-captains will draft their rosters on July 2. The game is scheduled for July 10 in Chicago and will include a 3-point competition and skills challenge.
The announcement comes shortly after the news of Griner’s detention extension, Blavity previously reported. The center has been detained in Russia since February 17 after airport authorities said she had vape cartridges containing hash oil. She’s now expected to remain in custody through July 2.
Forty advocacy groups, including the National Organization for Women, Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD, have come together to ask President Joe Biden to “make a deal” to secure the center’s release. They expressed that they appreciate the Biden administration’s efforts to bring Griner home, namely by labeling her as “wrongful detained” and assigning diplomats to work for her release but more needs to be done.
“The US Government has acknowledged that Brittney is essentially a political pawn in classifying her as wrongfully detained,” the advocacy groups said in a letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The letter also stated that “while these have been critically important measures, we now urge you to make a deal to get Brittney back home to America immediately and safely.”
