LeBron James had a point. It's America's fault Brittney Griner went to Russia

It is America's fault that she is over there.

The trap faced by President Joe Biden was similar to the one faced by NBA star James, who was caught in the same situation as the president.

Viktor Bout, a convicted weapons trafficker known as the Merchant of Death, could be handed over to Putin by the Russians.

The US authorities are not saying what they will do. Her next court appearance is on Thursday.

That isn't a trade at all.

Russian authorities said they found drugs in her bag at the airport.

Bout was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was convicted of trying to sell missiles, AK-47s and 10 million rounds of weapons to a group in the U.S.

There are more allegations against Bout. He has been linked to terrible things.

According to a national security expert, Bout is responsible for enabling groups to kidnap and train thousands of child soldiers, use rape as a systematic method of terror and control, torture through the mass amputations of arms, legs, ears and lips, and slaughter civilians.

Biden could improve the deal by asking for Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen who has been imprisoned in Russia for four years after being accused of being a spy.

James stepped out of bounds when he said on "The Shop: Uninterrupted" that if he were Griner, he might not want to come back to the U.S.

America got Griner's back? It's a fair question

She feels like America has her back. James made a statement.

He said that his comments were not hurting the country. I was simply saying how she feels.

We need to know we are responsible for this.

One of the league's biggest and most recognizable stars is the Phoenix Mercury's Brittney Griner. Forbes ranked James as the first active NBA player to become a billionaire due to all of his endorsements and entrepreneurial moves.

The basketball player should ask if she should return to the U.S.

Why was she in Russia in the first place?

How much does it cost to play in Russia? It's believed to be about $1 million. There is an answer to the question of whyBrittney was in Russia.

It will be argued that the NBA makes more money than the WNBA.

The NBA needs to invest more if it wants to offset the inequality between men and women by subsidizing the WNBA. The pay gaps are ridiculous.

Would she have taken a job halfway across the world if she had more money?

There is an argument to be made that more of our nation's flaws are in play in the case of the Mercury player.

She said that if it was James, he would be back. There is a statement about the value of women. A statement about the value of a black person. The value of a gay person is stated in the statement. That's all of them. That hurts more because we know it.

I will make it clear. If she were a waifish Hollywood blonde, stolen from her spouse on minor charges by a nasty and opportunistic European regime, what would her case look like?

Adam Silver wondered what the NBA could do about the situation.

It's our fault Griner is Russia's prisoner

There are some interesting views on the proposed trade.

There is a chance for an act of compassion for an innocent life if Biden swaps Bout for someone else.

Michael McFaul, the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, told NPR that the swap presents a problem for the US because Bout is a real criminal and he is in jail. They are very uneasy about doing those kind of swaps because of the fact that the person is not a real criminal. We did it before.

The Biden administration traded a Russian prisoner for a US prisoner. In 2010, when I was working at the White House, we swapped spies in exchange for four Russians who we wanted to get out of Russian prison. There is a precedent for this.

She's concerned about her teammates.

In a letter to the president, Griner said that he was aware of the amount of work that was being done. Please don't forget about me and the other Americans.

We know how many Americans are held in Russia, but we don't know how many of them are American.

We don't know what Biden is willing to do to get them back.

It is our fault that she is over there.

James said that America has her back.

If it was King James, the detainment would be solved.

Moore can be reached at gmoore@asuscentral.com He has an account on social media called sayingMoore.

There are many places where this came from. The Arizona Republic's award-winning sports team is available to subscribe to.

The original article was on Arizona Republic.