Dennis Rodman Declares He’ll Be Going To Russia Free Brittney Griner From Jail

Should Brittney Griner rejoice for help is on the way? Brittney Griner is a WNBA player who has been sentenced to nine years in Russian prison earlier this month for being found guilty of having in her possession marijuana hashish oil in two vape cartridges and guilty of intentionally bringing the drug into the country despite knowing it was banned in Russia. Brittney has been promised by the U.S. President himself that he would do everything in his power to see that she was released back to U.S.

On July 7th, Brittney pleaded guilty to the charges leveled against her even though the U.S. President Joe Biden declared that she was “wrongfully detained” by the Russians. There’ve been talks about having Brittney exchanged with a Russian prisoner jailed in America but just three days ago, August 20, former NBA player Dennis Rodman told NBC News that he would be going to Russia to help release Brittney from prison.

Brittney Griner — Will Dennis Rodman Succeed In Bringing Brittney Back?

Ever since Rodman declared his mission to go to Russia and bring Brittney back to the United States, the question on almost everyone’s mind is, can Rodman actually go into Russia and negotiate Brittney’s release with Russian President Vladimir Putin? Trust me, this question is not out of place because, Rodman during his first visit to North Korea, made friends with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and, due to Rodman’s friendship with Kim Jong Un, in 2014, Chris Cuomo who as at then was the anchor of CNN asked Rodman to use his friendship with the North Korean leader and negotiate the release of Kenneth Bae who was a prisoner then in North Korea.

Rodman walked out on Chris then but later on apologized to the press that he was drunk that very day. When Kenneth Bae was finally released, Rodman took credit for his release and said it was due to Rodman’s frequent visits to the country that helped influence Kenneth’s release. Also, Kenneth Bae is not the first American held prisoner in another country who was later released and Rodman took credit for his release.

In June 2017, Rodman took credit for the release of American student Otto Warmbier, who was removed from the North Korean prison, it so happens that Otto Warmbier was released when Rodman was beginning his trip to the country, not after the trip, or while in the country but as usual, Rodman took credit for that. A State Department spokesperson told BuzzFeed News at the time that “Dennis Rodman had nothing to do with the release.”

It’s not as if we’re saying Rodman can’t negotiate Brittney’s release with Putin, after all, Rodman met with Putin in 2014 and said that Putin is a “cool guy” but, there’ve been talks, and if not mistaken, work has already commenced on how to exchange Brittney Griner with a Russian held in an American prison.

Brittney Griner — Talks About Prisoner Swap

It was last month, July 27, that the United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken released a statement which says that the U.S. government has made a ‘substantial proposal’ to the Russian government for the release of not just Brittney Griner but also Paul Whelan who, just like Brittney was wrongly detained by the Russians.

In Paul’s case, Paul was visiting Russian for a friend’s wedding when he was arrested in 2018, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and if Brittney was convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison. When Brittney was first arrested, her family kept the case quiet hoping to resolve it quietly but unfortunately, they haven’t gone anywhere near resolving it so, Brittney’s wife Cherelle Grinner couldn’t stay quiet anymore so she spoke up and the President assured her that he’s doing everything to bring Britteny back.

Due to how Brittney’s case garnered lots of concern not just from her fellow WNBA players but the President also got involved, the family of Paul Whelan spoke up too expressing their hurt that the President is trying to bring Brittney home and nothing is being said about Paul who has been held by the Russians since 2018 so, the President also reached out to the family of Paul Whelan and assured them also that they will do their best to also bring back Paul.

The question now should be, if Rodman actually goes to Russia to discuss Brittney’s release, will Rodman not spoil the work-in-progress plans being made to swap Brittney and Paul with a Russian? Whatever the answer to these questions is, we’ll be waiting for it.

Be sure to catch up on everything happening with Brittney Griner right now. Come back here often for all the Brittney Griner’s spoilers, news, and updates.