NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday that he is working side by side with the WNBA commissioner to try to bring home a player.
The NBA was following the advice of experts when it did not take an aggressive approach during the early stages of the case of Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, according to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
Silver said that they have been in touch with the White House, the State Department, hostage negotiators, every level of government and the private sector.
The State Department said Tuesday that it still wants to have regular contact with the Phoenix Mercury star.
Last week, a consular official was able to meet with the woman who had been in Russia for a month. The US has said that she has been held since February after her luggage was found to contain oil derived from cannabis.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said that a consular official came away with the impression that the basketball player was doing well under difficult circumstances. Russia has subscribed to the Vienna Convention.
A maximum penalty of 10 years in prison is possible for the drug smuggler if he is found guilty. The Biden administration says that Griner is being wrongly held. The officials from the NBA and U.S. have been working on her release.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked with the wife of a man.
He said that the priority was to get the release of all Americans around the world, including those who we consider to be wrongly imprisoned.
A Michigan man has been held in Russia. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage-related charges that his family says are false, after he was arrested while visiting for a friend's wedding.
The report was contributed to by the Associated Press.
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