Brittney Griner, a figure of the LGBT+ community, was arrested in February 2022 in a Moscow airport with a vape and liquid containing cannabis. She was then playing for the Russian team Yekaterinburg, during the off-season of the American championship.
In August, she was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment and, after her appeal was rejected, transferred in November to a penal colony in central Russia. Griner was eventually exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, a prisoner in the United States.