Brittney Griner reacts to prisoner swap between U.S. and Russia: ‘This is a big win, huge win’

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — Team USA center Brittney Griner had just come off the court after her team beat Belgium in group play at the Paris Games when she was asked about her reaction to the news that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan were part of a massive prisoner swap between Russia and several Western countries.

“It’s a great day,” Griner said. “I am head over heels happy for the families right now. Any day that Americans come home, that’s a win.”

Griner, 33, didn’t disclose who first told her about the prisoner swap but said she was “definitely emotional” upon hearing the news.

“I’m just happy,” she said. “Like this is a big win, huge win.”

Griner spent most of 2022 under Russian detainment after she was found traveling with a small amount of hashish oil in her luggage as she went to join her UMMC Ekaterinburg team. The U.S. government declared her to be wrongfully detained, a classification that allowed the government to negotiate her release before a trial or conviction.

Still, that August she was found guilty of smuggling drugs with criminal intent and sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. Four months later, the United States secured a prisoner swap, bringing Griner home in exchange for…