Basketball
“I don’t know if I can take it.” American champion goes crazy in a Russian prison
Brittney Greiner / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Anton Denisov
Greiner’s wife complains to the president. Biden inspires confidence, but will he take risks on the eve of the election?
Two-time Olympic basketball champion from the United States Brittney Griner continues to be in a Russian prison. Some time ago, an American basketball player insisted that she could not be broken. Now she is close to despair and is afraid to stay in places of detention forever.
Afraid not to be in time before the elections?
“Brittney’s not okay”
American basketball player Brittney Griner is serving time in a penal colony. An athlete punished for drug smuggling can stay behind bars for a long time – the court sentenced her to nine years in prison. There is, of course, the option of early release, but this requires an agreement between the top leadership of Russia and the United States regarding the exchange.
Perhaps the two-time Olympic champion hoped that she would be exchanged much faster, because the United States authorities have repeatedly announced their intention to get Greiner out of prison. But so far everything is somehow going with a creak – the proposal to exchange two American prisoners for one Russian one does not arouse great enthusiasm among decision makers in Russia. Brittney, apparently, is starting to get nervous, realizing that the chance to stay in prison for many years is quite real.
Brittney is not well. From her there were a lot of disturbing messages about the state of health. This worried me a lot. She’s going crazy. We have reached a point where even a strong person says: “Honey, I don’t know how long I can endure this,” Sherel Greiner, the wife of basketball player, quotes CNN.
“Do Your Best”
Even before Griner’s verdict was announced, and the representatives of the United States of all irons called for the release of the athlete just like that, Brittney was much more confident in herself. She declared that she was hardened, she could not be broken, although even then she assumed that upon returning home it would take some time to recover. In early July, the nerves of the UMMC star may have begun to fail. At least in her letter to President Joe Biden, timed to coincide with Independence Day, there were already some panic notes.
“Please do everything in your power to bring me home. When I sit in a Russian prison alone with my thoughts, without family and without friends, I am afraid that I might stay here forever. On July 4th, our family usually honors those who fought for our freedom, including my father, a Vietnam War veteran. Please do your best. In 2020, I voted for you and believe in your help, – Politico quoted Greiner as saying.
Whether Biden is doing everything possible to return the American is a debatable issue. But at least he meets with the basketball player’s wife to give her confidence in the favorable outcome of the case. Of course, it would be possible to agree to the proposal of the Russian side and exchange the prisoners according to the “two for two” scheme. Such a move could really bring Griner as close as possible to returning to the United States, but what if the voters do not understand the maneuver?
On the eve of the November elections to the House of Representatives, any step that allows to doubt the power of American diplomacy is undesirable for the country’s leadership, so is it worth agreeing to Russian conditions? True, if the loud promise is not fulfilled before the election day on November 8, there will be a risk that the US authorities will cool down on the issue of Greiner’s release. And in such a situation, Brittney’s excitement with an admixture of real panic is quite understandable.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has been writing for a news website since 2015. My work primarily focuses on sports news, but I have also written about other topics such as technology and the arts. I have an extensive background in journalism, having worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before moving to a news website.
Basketball
NBA. Boston’s crazy comeback, Mikhailyuk’s failure with Utah
7 games of the NBA regular season were played on the night of December 22-23. Golden State beat Orlando, Boston beat Orlando with a comeback, Detroit beat Portland and other games.
NBO. Regular season. Matches are on December 23.
Cleveland – Charlotte – 139:132 (33:36, 37:27, 34:32, 35:37)
Cleveland: Mitchell (30), Garland (27+10 assists), Wade (14+7 rebounds), Allen (12), Tyson (0) – start; Hunter (27), Bryant (10), Lonzo Ball (6+7 assists), Tomlin (5), Merrill (4), Porter (2), Proctor (2).
Charlotte: LaMelo Ball (23+9 assists), Knippel (20), Miller (20), Bridges (17), Plumlee (5) – start; Mann (13), Green (10), McNealy (7), James (7), Diabate (5+14 rebounds + 6 steals), Connaughton (3), Hall (2).
Boston – Indiana – 103:95 (26:35, 17:26, 31:21, 29:13)
Boston: Brown (31+9 rebounds), White (19), Pritchard (11), Queta (8+8 rebounds), Mynott (2) – starter; Simons (11), Garza (6+9 rebounds), Gauser (6), Gonzalez (6+11 rebounds), Scheierman (3).
Indiana: Siakam (25), Nembhard (20+7 assists), Maturin (16+9 rebounds), Thompson (13), Huff (3) – start; Jackson (9), Furphy (3), Matthews (2), Walker (2), Jones (2), Jackson (0), Wiseman (0), Peter (0).
New Orleans – Dallas – 119:113 (36:34, 21:29, 22:24, 40:26)
New Orleans: Bay (19+7 rebounds), Queen (19+11 rebounds + 6 assists), Fiers (12), Murphy (11), Jones (9) – start; Williamson (24+9 rebounds), Poole (14), Alvarado (6), Matkovic (5), Peavy (0).
Dallas: Davis (35+17 rebounds), Flegg (16+6 assists), Marshall (15+6 assists), Washington (8+8 rebounds), Nembhard (4+8 assists+5 losses) – starter; Thompson (20), Williams (4), Hardy (4), Caleb Martin (4), Gafford (3).
Denver -Utah – 135:112 (40:15, 29:31, 34:38, 32:28)
Denver: J. Murray (27), K. Johnson (20), Watson (20), Jokic (14 + 13 rebounds + 13 assists), Jones (3) – start; Hardaway (21), B. Brown (15), Valanciunas (12+11 rebounds), Pickett (3), Strother (0), Nagy (0), Tyson (0).
Utah: Markkanen (27+8 rebounds), George (20+8 rebounds + 7 assists), Nurkic (17+14 rebounds + 6 assists), Bailey (10), Mikhailyuk (6) – start; Sensabaugh (14), Clayton (6), Filippovski (5), Hendricks (5), Collier (2+9 assists), Williams (0).
Oklahoma -Memphis – 119:103 (31:28, 36:26, 17:19, 35:30)
Oklahoma: Gilgeous-Alexander (31+10 rebounds + 8 assists + 5 turnovers), Jaylen Williams (24), Dort (13), Carlson (11), Wallace (8) – starter; Mitchell (16+9 rebounds), K. Williams (11), Joe (5), Barnhizer (0), Youngblood (0).
Memphis: Coward (16+8 rebounds + 6 assists), Spencer (14+8 assists), Wells (12+5 losses), Jaren Jackson (11), Landale (11+10 rebounds) – start; Caldwell-Pope (16), Aldama (9+7 rebounds), Prosper (8), Jackson (6), Koloko (0).
Golden State – Orlando – 120:97 (26:30, 32:27, 31:26, 31:14)
Golden State: Curry (26+6 assists), Butler (21), Moody (20), Dr. Green (9+7 rebounds), Post (8+12 rebounds) – start; Podzemskie (16), Payton (7), Melton (4), Jackson-Davis (4), Hield (3), Spencer (2), Santos (0), Richard (0).
Orlando’s: Banchero (21 + 12 rebounds + 7 assists), Bane (20), Black (19), Carter (9), Jones (7) – start; Richardson (11), Penda (5), Bitadze (2), Howard (2), Isaac (1), Kane (0).
Portland – of Detroit – 102:110 (26:30, 25:31, 27:34, 24:15)
Portland: Sharpe (25+5 tackles + 8 tackles for loss), Avdija (18+8 rebounds + 9 assists), Clingan (17+10 rebounds), Kamara (8), Murray (5) – start; Sissoko (16), R. Williams (8), Love (5), Rith (0), Rooper (0).
of Detroit: Durent (26+10 rebounds), Thompson (18+12 rebounds), D. Robinson (15), Cunningham (14+9 assists + 5 losses), Harris (12) – start; Ivey (11), Green (6), Jenkins (5), Stewart (3), LeVert (0), Rod (0).
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
NBA
Forbes named the most valuable sports team of 2025
Version Forbes announced its annual ranking of the world’s most expensive sports teams.
NFL franchise Dallas Cowboys, estimated to be worth $13 billion, has led the pack for the ninth year in a row.
While NBA Golden State Warriors ranked second with a valuation of $11 billion, another representative of American football, Los Angeles Rams (10.5 billion), was in the top three.
The top 10, as last year, includes only American teams from the NFL and NBA. There are seven NFL clubs in the top 10 overall, which Forbes analysts attribute to the league’s large-scale television contracts.
Among football clubs, Real Madrid remains the most expensive – the Spanish giant ranked only 20th with a value of $6.75 billion.
Also in the top 50 are Manchester United (24th, 6.6 billion), Barcelona (42nd, 5.65 billion) and Liverpool (48th, 5.4 billion). In total, only four football clubs are represented in the top 50 rankings.
Formula 1 representatives also returned to the list – Ferrari (26th place) and Mercedes (34th).
The 20 most valuable sports teams in the world according to Forbes
- 1. Dallas Cowboys (American football) – $13 billion
- 2. Golden State Warriors (basketball) – $11 billion
- 3. Los Angeles Rams (American football) – $10.5 billion
- 4. New York Giants (American football) – $10.1 billion
- 5. Los Angeles Lakers (basketball) – $10 billion
- 6. New York Knicks (basketball) – $9.75 billion
- 7. New England Patriots (American football) – $9 billion
- 8. San Francisco 49ers (American football) – $8.6 billion
- 9. Philadelphia Eagles (American football) – $8.3 billion
- 10. Chicago Bears (American football) – $8.2 billion
- 11. New York Yankees (baseball) – $8.2 billion
- 12. New York Jets (American football) – $8.1 billion
- 13. Las Vegas Raiders (American football) – $7.7 billion
- 14. Washington Commanders (American football) – $7.6 billion
- 15. Los Angeles Clippers (basketball) – $7.5 billion
- 16. Miami Dolphins (American football) – $7.5 billion
- 17. Houston Texans (American football) – $7.4 billion
- 18. Denver Broncos (American football) – $6.8 billion
- 19. Los Angeles Dodgers (baseball) – $6.8 billion
- 20. Real Madrid (soccer) – $6.75 billion
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
Basketball
The coach of the Super League club threatened the team with a squad change
On December 20-21, Niko-Basket lost two home matches to Dnepr and Zaporozhye in the eighth round of the Super League and therefore finished the calendar year in 9th place in the standings with 4 wins in 14 matches.
Head coach of the team after the defeat of Zaporozhye (67:78) Valentin Berestnev He listed the reasons for the team’s unsuccessful results as follows:
“Counting the first, third and fourth quarters, we won by one point each. We lost the entire game in the second quarter. We had a 7-point lead in the second quarter, but we finished with minus 9. We lost the fight, lost the rebounds, made childish mistakes. This caused the opponent to get over the shock of being behind 12:19 and the game turned in another direction.
We could not find a leader who could do what Lovings and Lishchina did. Eisa scored almost 30 points per game, surpassing our fourth point.
I would like to thank our fans who supported us until the end. They said warm and kind words to us after the match. This is our first year playing in the Super League. Most of the players have no experience of playing in the Super League: Max (Grischuk), Vitaly (Volodin), Bodya (Likhoy). Zaitsev, Safonov and Garbar have experience. Kabanov has little experience. This is a difficult season for them, which will show who will advance to the Super League level and who will not.
Therefore, I would like to thank our fans once again. There were two alarms today. Yesterday we finished the match three hours later than planned. Despite this, people stayed and supported us. We are very grateful for this support.
We train six times a week, twice a day to improve our game. I believe that we will overcome this situation and have a team that will compete for Super League awards, become a strong middle team and beat everyone at home, just like 10-15 years ago.
Most of the guys have no experience, so mistakes are made. Not technical, tactical. There is a lack of a leader who will take responsibility in difficult times. Now we are looking for such a player in the team. If we can’t find it, we will face three foreign players like most other teams. If our audience likes it.”
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
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