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Brittney Griner Comes Clean on Divorcing Wife Cherelle After Russian Prison Sentence: “I Just Wanted to Be Alone”

Published 05/06/2024, 12:05 PM EDT

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All was going well when suddenly hard luck knocked on the WNBA star Brittney Griner’s door. While she was playing for the EuroLeague Team in Russia, the authorities detained her. In February 2022, the authorities at Moscow airport arrested her for carrying vape cartridges containing illegal oil. And now Griner has shared her harrowing experience through her new book – Coming Home.

She had an interview with the famous Megan Rapinoe and opened up about her partner Cherelle Watson whom she had married in June 2019. While reflecting on the incident on The Cut, Griner stated that staying away from Cherelle was “probably one of the hardest things ever.” Griner had received a 9-year-long sentence and she communicated the same to Watson. She even went ahead with her breakup and put up a barrier between the two.

via Reuters

“When I got sentenced to nine years, I wrote her a letter. I’m a realist. I was just like, “Nine years is a long time, babe. I get it,” basically giving her an out. I asked, “Can you still be my friend? Write me.” She shot that down so quick. She was like, “Don’t ever write anything like that again.” She never wavered. When I finally got back she was so patient with me. There were so many times when I just wanted to be alone, and then there were days when she couldn’t get me away from her,” Brittney Griner stated.

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Perhaps it is their love for each other or the bond that they share which continues to bring them together.

Britney Griner shares a loving bond with Cherelle 

Griner first met Watson during their time at the Baylor University. Griner was in the college from 2009 to 2013. And as per People Magazine, it was “love at first sight.” Nonetheless, as per the same site, they started dating much later. And the two have been posting about each other on social media. One can certainly imagine that Griner’s world would have been shattered after knowing that she would be an inmate for 9 years.

In the same breath, Brittney Griner also went onto mention that “I could see how it was really just destroying her, and I immediately stopped talking.” I was like, “Nah, it is hurting you too much. I need to divulge this with my counselor first, and then we can talk about it.” Therefore it goes ahead to show how affected Griner was when she was put behind bars. However, a ray of hope touched her life soon.

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In December 2022 Russia and the USA agreed to a one-on-one prison exchange program. Griner was brought home in exchange for Bout. That’s when she reunited with Cherelle. Thankfully the two are leading their usual lives. According to an Instagram post, the couple will also have baby around July. “Can’t believe we’re less than three months away from meeting our favorite human being,” Cherelle had written in the post. Fans can only breath a sigh of relief and wish Griner a happy married life.

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Written by:

Ritvan Pande

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Ritvan Pande is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He covers Perspectives and Classics as the expert in the longform coverage. Inspired by the fabled Chicago Bulls trio of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, Ritvan captures the staggering court encounters in the same competitive style.
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Edited by:

Deepali Verma