Where Does LeBron Play During the Off-Season To Make Ends Meet?

Why Britteny Griner is a hostage in Russia.

Question: If you were a 6'9", two-time Olympic gold medalist, pro baller superstar, considered one of the best players on the planet, would you leave your family and friends during the off-season to play on a Russian team just when Putin decides to poke the dogs of war?

You would if you were in the WNBA and had to pay your mortgage.

That’s the dilemma facing women athletes like Britteny Griner, owner of the above-mentioned profile. Griner, in case you don’t read the headlines, is currently in a Russian jail for possession of drugs when she tried to enter the country to play for her Russian team.

If you believe Britteny was smuggling hashish when Putin realized he had a bargaining chip in this high-profile superstar should the West make good on their sanctions threat, I have a dacha outside of Moscow to sell you.

I don’t have any inside information on the State Department’s negotiations to get Britteny back to US soil.

Nor do I know for sure what she was packing in her vape device, if she even had one, when the Russian authorities seized her at the airport.

But I have my suspicions based on Jason Rezaian’s experience.

You may recall The Washington Post journalist was captured during the Iran nuclear treaty negotiations and held as a bargaining chip for over 500 days.

He recounts the lies told to him by his captors in a recent podcast where he expresses his concern for Ms. Griner’s well-being. Told, for example, that nobody cared for him added to his despair. Nobody would help him, told his family and colleagues believed he was killed in a car crash and would not come to his aid.

He wishes Britteny to know, now that her captivity — let’s call it what it is, though Russia says they are “detaining” her — has been extended to May 14, that she can get through this, that people care and love her. Just that knowledge can sustain her.

Dispute rages over the best way to treat Americans held hostage by unfriendly nations, of whom there are now 40 such US citizens in countries such as Venezuela, North Korea, and Iran. Some officials beg for silence by the public to allow negotiations to take place in private.

Rezanian pleads for more attention on these cases. He believes that if more people know about the plight of hostages, more can be done to obtain their release.

I’m not a hostage expert. I know next to nothing about international relations.

What I do know is that male basketball stars like Steph Curry and LeBron James don’t have to hustle in foreign countries during the off-season to earn money.

You don’t see Kawhi Leonard or James Harden humping in Europe to pay their mortgages, so why do women athletes have to work harder?

I know pay inequality is not at the forefront of this story, but would we be worried about Britteny if she earned the millions the male players do?

Perhaps now we have to throw safety concerns into the mix when talking about salary equity in major league sports.

But first, let’s bring Britteny home.

Thank you for reading.

I’m an editor and writer on Medium with Top Writer status. I’ve published 55 titles on Amazon and edit fiction and non-fiction for private clients. If you’d like to hire me as your editor for fiction, non-fiction, or business writing, please contact me here. If you’d like to read more of my work on Medium, click here to sign up for my newsletter. Thank you for reading, and stay safe.