Brittney and Cherelle GrinerImage source, Instagram / @brittneyyevettegriner
Image caption, Brittney Griner was freed last week and reunited with her wife Cherelle

After the American basketball player was freed from a Russian jail, she said she would return to basketball.

The prisoner swap resulted in the release of the player.

She spoke for the first time since the exchange, thanking President Joe Biden and promising to return for the season.

The last 10 months have been filled with many battles. It was the love from so many of you that kept me going.

"I want to make it clear that I intend to play basketball for the Phoenix Mercury this season, and I also want to make it clear that I am not going to play for another team."

She spent a week at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, after landing in the US.

She will use her platform to help Mr Biden get the release of Paul Whelan, an ex-Marine who has been in Russian custody for nearly four years on charges of espionage.

Critics criticized the Biden administration for not including Whelan in the swap. The US had a choice about who to bring home.

Mr Biden is committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home, and everyone that played a part in his release is urged to continue their efforts.

She said that every family deserves to be together.

Media caption,

There is a video of the moment the two people crossed the tarmac.

The man was arrested at a Moscow airport in February for possession of cannabis oil.

She spent 10 months in Russian custody before the US government struck a deal with Russia to release her for Bout.

Two private planes brought the pair to Abu Dhabi airport from Moscow and Washington and then flew them home.

She is one of the best-known sports women. The double Olympic champion is a star center for the Phoenix Mercury.

Her agent said that she had played basketball for the first time since she was arrested.