It was reported this morning that Russia targeted her specifically to get the "merchant of death" guy back because he was close to Putin. Russia would only make the 1:1 exchange with these two people.
Why do you say that? She played in Russia just to supplement her income. What makes you say she hates her country? ps, I know nothing about her but for this imprisonment.
I got that impression when she said in 2020 that the national anthem shouldn't be played at sporting events. However I've looked at the subject a little bit more, thanks for raising the question. Now I don't think she's particularly political one way or the other. 2020 was a year that tested everybody.
I heard this on the radio driving. I too wondered why they didn't also negotiate for this man considering we are swapping a pretty bad person from what I understand.
The original negotiations were a 2 for 1 swap, Brittney and Paul for Viktor Bout. Why that didn't work I don't know.
They did negotiate for Paul Whelan. Negotiation involves two parties, not just what we want, what the other guy wants too.
Not nearly as BIG as NBA. Not like women's soccer.
Whelan is Canadian by birth and holds citizenship in Canada, the US, the UK and Ireland.
True and then there is the influence she will have on the pot industry as well. $$$$$$$$
It's not very big business. It's never made a profit and has been totally subsidized by the NBA. She went to Russia as Pepper noted to supplement her income, which is in the 221,000 per year range. Average attendance last year for a WNBA game was about 5600 people, and that has been going down for years, although last year was a bounce back from the pandemic.
