the U. S. A few weeks ago offering a deal with Russia
bring W. N. B. A. Star Brittany Griner back home,
now been five months since she was detained in Russia
on those drug charges now she pleaded guilty three
weeks ago but now she faces 10 years behind bars. And
yesterday came word of that proposed prisoner swap
involving Griner and fellow prisoner paul Whelan, a
marine in exchange for a Russian arms dealer. Viktor
Bout's the so called merchant of death. D'Andra Moss is
a friend of Brittney Griner and she joins us now and
thanks for being with us. You're out on the west coast
this time. Have you been in touch with Griner or
anybody in the family? And if so, how are they doing? I
haven't recently um I'd imagine that um this time is
very anxious and at least there's been some tractio
there's been some some headway potential that she coul
be coming home. Um I think everyone's excited and
optimistic but still very much on pins and needles
about the whole situation understandably. So D. And I
can call you that and let the audience know that we'v
known each other for for quite some time. What's it
like for all of you guys who have played overseas i
the WNBA In the different leagues to be on pins and
needles right now waiting to hear from Russia because
the U. S. Announced that they were trying to get this
this prisoner swap yesterday. They say they haven't
heard from Moscow yet. It's like your heart is in your
is in your stomach. You know because it's your hopeful
but you're scared because the thing is you don't want
this to go silent. You don't want to go into a
situation where you're not hearing anything. So you're
just really conflicted. That's the best word to
explain. You're conflicted beca you want to want
them to come home, you want Brittany to come home, pau
wants to come home, his family wants to come home. But
at the same time, you know this is Russia, they could
just go silent. You're dealing with Russia and the
regime of Putin honestly anything can happen. So it's
just uh such a tense moment. You can't really think
about anything else. Uh It's hard to really focus on
anything else whatsoever. It's impossible, it's
impossible task. So I know that the family is just
that's exactly how they're feeling. They want this to
just cross over to the next path and just waiting for
that call that she's on the flight home, that's what
they want so badly. Um And that's the only thing that'
taken up their head space at the moment. You know when
we watched your counterparts in the soccer league take
to the field and the different pressures that they w
under. Even though they made a lot less money than
their male counterparts, we found out exactly how tough
they were. How tough are the women of the WNBA Your
your fellow players incredibly tough The things that
women athletes have to go through um in a man's world
in terms of sports, um salary, um just equity. But
these are incredibly resilient women. If you think
about it, the WNBA and its players have been leading
the way in every social cause. There is, they are
leaders of the four point. They don't wait to see how
the NBA will react or how MLB will react or NFL they
are leaders. So when I say, these are a group of
resilient women because we've h to be all of our
lives, right? Because this is the only way that we'll
have a place in this world and to get our respect
right? So you're dealing with a group of very resilient
women, but we are still human, you know, um and you
don't want to just rest on that, that we'll just get
through it and we're very resilient, we'll be fine. No,
take care of us and help us to get help bring me to get
home and take care of these women and give us the
equity we deserve in the respect. That's all we want.
But a very tough group of women in the WNBA Period we
now know that she was using cannabis for medicina
purposes because of pain. What type of pain do I see?
Not in your head. Tell me about it. Del let me tell you
something when you, when you play year round, a very
demanding sport, including the travel, it's not like
you're traveling, you know regionally, you're traveli
globally across europe and first of all we're running
every day, your joints hurt, it just hurts. Sometimes
you can't even sleep, you're so tired, you can't sleep
okay between the traveling, you're practicing be
you have to stay sharp on your craft. And then when
Brittany gets home in the summer time, she's in the
WNBA And then when that's finished, she has a couple of
weeks and she's back over in Russia. You never really
have the opportunity to let your body come down, right?
So this is what happens um as women players with a year
round thing. So paying chronic pain is something that I
can assure you most of all of us have dealt with, I've
dealt with it, I've had seven knee surgeries to a C. O.
Reconstructions and five in between. I've dealt with
pay my entire career is something that you just start
to live with, but you have to manage it because when it
gets out of control there and you can't really perform,
you're trying to fight through pain. That means I'm not
focusing on my task at hand as a player, which is
playing defense and scoring etcetera with my team needs
with me. So that is something that especially so
who brings caliber and her schedule, she has to be in
chronic pain just because of her skills. She has been
playing this way since college? Think about her career
She hasn't had a rest. I doubt she's had a rest for
more than two weeks in the last 10 or 12 years of her
life. Think about that day. That's incredible. She's 6
and when they take her back and forth to that Russian
trial, she is in a cage and she is, is literally bent
over. Um, as you see the images of her going back and
forth and inside the courtroom, is there something t
you're seeing that we're not seeing that may give us a
clue as to how she's doing physically. I think she's
just trying to get by. I know that she's not
comfortable, but I remember we talked about this the
last time. She's trying to stay strong for her family
because they're already worried. We're already worried.
And she doesn't want people to worry more than what
they already are. That's what Brittany's trying to do.
And I can see that through her face. This is not
enjoyable for her. This is not enjoyable. This is not a
vacation. Um, and this is not something anyone should
ever have to experience. So that's what I see when I
see these images. She's trying to remain strong,
especially when she's in court and the cameras are out
because she didn't want her family to worry the final
question before I let you go. We always assume because
we're in the States being gay is okay. It's not in
Russia. Did you ever worry overseas about how these
different countries would react to you differently than
the way they react to people here in the States? Oh
absolutely. Um especially more, more some countries
more than others. But definitel when um for example, I
spent many times in Ukraine a lot of times in Turkey um
to where you have to just be careful. You know, it's
not okay. You have to just be weary about your
surroundings and the people you choose to have in your
circle, you know, because sometimes things like that
being gay, it impacts your livelihood and impacts uh
your work, you know, your team, your team presidents
and and and and members get involved in your personal
life and now your livelihood is in danger in terms of
how you make money in your contract situation. So it'
is you have to be very careful about that stuff. Um an
in Russia especially. Um, so it's it's just, it's a
lot, again, it's a lot of the things that we have dealt
with that we put up with in a way because we enjoy the
game and all the other other side of it and the great
things that basketball brings us. Um, but that those
are one of the things in terms of being gay and not
really being able to be free. That's something we could
definitely live without. You have to really be careful.
And there were a couple of times I really was mindful
about all of those things in my circle. Um when it came
to certain places that I played, especially um in
Turkey, primarily. Well, thanks for speaking out
because we are now all watching and waiting. And I kno
it's it's even worse for you. D'Andra Moss joining us
now from the West Coast. Thanks for being with us.
Thank you, joe. Take it easy.