Brittney Griner May Have Opportunity To Coach Basketball While Serving 9-Year Sentence In Russian Prison

Brittney Griner

Brittney Griner May Have Opportunity To Coach Basketball While Serving 9-Year Sentence In Russian Prison

Brittney Griner may have a chance to be around the game she loves while serving time.

Brittney Griner could possibly coach women’s basketball as she serves her 9-year sentence in Russia after being found guilty of possessing cannabis oil, according to Radar Online.

Brittney Griner

Ivan Melnikov, the vice president of the Russian Department of the International Human Rights Defense Committee told reporters that he hoped “she will be sent to a colony with a lenient governor” who lets her “coach basketball in the daytime rather than being a seamstress,” adding:

“Prisoners are encouraged to play sports or do yoga and so on, and basketball is popular. I think that would be the best thing for her.”

Russian soccer players Alexander Kokorin and Pavel Mamayev taught soccer while they served prison sentences, so it is not a far fetched idea.

Russian prisoners are to all be tasked with a job, and most of them work eight hours a day doing tasks like cooking, cleaning, laundry or serving food. Since Griner has the skill of playing basketball, she could be able to coach.

Brittney Griner

Melnikov also gave insight on what life may look like for Brittney Griner as she spends her days in one of Russia’s prisons, or colonies. He says there is a small exercise yard for them, and that each day inside counts as two days towards a prisoner’s sentence.

Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison on August 4, and since then, Russia has been in negotiations with the U.S. government to release Brittney and Paul Whelan. Whelan is a former U.S. Marine who was detained in Russia in 2018.

What do you think about Griner possibly being able to coach basketball while serving time? Let us know in the comments.

[VIA]