The Latest Breaking News from Mercury

The Phoenix star was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony and fined 1 million rubles, which is about $16,500, on Thursday.

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been sentenced to nine years in Russian prison in a sentence that US President Joe Biden has deemed "unacceptable", but what did she do and what's the government's plan to get her out?

Los Angeles (AFP) - Phoenix Mercury and Connecticut Sun players linked arms in 42 seconds of silence before their game Thursday in solidarity with WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was sentenced earlier to nine years in prison in Russia.

What a powerful moment in support of Brittney Griner.

The Phoenix Mercury will meet the Connecticut Sun in WNBA action on Thursday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Los Angeles (AFP) - The American basketball community decried Women's NBA star Brittney Griner's drugs conviction and nine-year prison sentence from a Russian court as "unjustified" on Thursday and called on the US government to bring her home.

MINNEAPOLIS — Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said Thursday that her team's players and coaching staff "have been glued to seeing Brittney [Griner] in the trial" that ended with the Phoenix Mercury star being found guilty of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison by a Russian judge.

Phoenix continues to show their support for Griner.

Regardless of how the U.S. standoff with Russia ends, the WNBA superstar will keep paying the price.

While the Mercury star was found guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced to nine years by a Russian court, her teammates remain focused on bringing Griner home.

Attention now turns to the possibility of a high-stakes prisoner swap that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken proposed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.