Look: Alex Morgan Makes Clear Statement on Brittney Griner

The NBA star celebrated her 32nd birthday today from a Russian prison.

US WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner sits inside a defendant's cage with a picture depicting her WNBA fellow players wearing jerseys with her number, 42.Natalia Kolesnikova/Getty Images

Britney Griner has had massive support from the sports community since she was arrested in Russia on Feb. 17. After being detained for five months, Griner was found guilty of drug charges and given a sentence of more than nine years.

Women’s soccer champ Alex Morgan made her stance on the Griner situation clear at the San Diego Wave FC game on Sunday, Oct. 17. She walked into the soccer stadium wearing a shirt with Griner holding a WNBA basketball on the front and a large “Brittney Griner” text on the back. A video of her arrival was posted on TikTok, with the caption “Statement piece🧡🖤 #fitcheck #BG

#wnba.”

The athlete also used her huge Twitter platform, with 3.8 million followers, to make a statement and tweeted a video of the shirt. Fans weighed in to the comments, asking if they could also buy the shirt. 

Alex Morgan #13 of the San Diego Wave FC drives to the goal during the first half of an NWSL game against the Angel City FC. 

Denis Poroy/Getty Images

Today, Griner turned 32 in prison in Moscow as her friends, family and fellow athletes supported her with the #WeAreBG campaign from across the world.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist’s lawyers filed an appeal immediately after Griner’s sentencing. Hearings will begin on Oct. 25.

Her wife, Cherelle, spoke with CBS Mornings on Oct. 5 and explained that President Biden is looking into a potential prisoner exchange with Russia.

“He’s doing what he can,” she told co-host Gayle King. “But there’s another party in this situation, and we also are dealing with the need for Russia to have mercy on B.G. as well.”

Cherelle added that right now, in prison, Griner is “at her weakest” and Cherelle “feels as if she’s [Griner] a hostage.”

“I have heard so many stories about this exact situation happening with Americans going through Russia and at the airport they were told, ‘Pay a fine and go on with your day,’” Cherelle continued. “But because B.G. is Brittney Griner, I do think this got really complicated really quickly.”

Griner was arrested for carrying vape cartridges with cannabis oil while traveling to compete for UMMC Ekaterinburg, a professional women’s basketball team in Russia. Cherelle is a law student at North Carolina Central and she understands that crime deserves punishment, but “it must be balanced.”