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Sunny Hostin says Brittney Griner’s release suggests women basketball players 'need to be paid more'

Sunny Hostin had advocated for WNBA star Brittney Griner, tweeting that she was 'a global basketball icon who is being held wrongfully in Russia'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: ‘The View’ co-host Sunny Hostin expressed her views after WNBA star Brittney Griner returned home in exchange for Russian ‘Merchant of Death’ Viktor Bout. On Thursday, December 8, the 54-year-old lawyer reportedly said that Griner’s release from the Russian prison suggested that women basketball players deserved more money than what they were currently receiving.

The 32-year-old athlete had been in Russia’s captivity since February after suthorities found cannabis oil in her bag at Moscow airport. In August, she was sentenced to nine years in prison. However, after continuous efforts of Griner’s family and US authorities, she has finally returned to the US, as per Daily Caller.

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Shedding light on Griner’s confinement in a foreign country and the struggles she had to face, Hostin, who serves as one of the WNBA board of advocates, noted that her freedom “highlights why our women need to be paid their value in sports because that’s why she was over there in the first place.” Griner reportedly makes $221,450 per year by playing for the Phoenix Mercury.

However, the discussion among the ‘The View’ hosts did not end there as co-host Whoopi Goldberg mentioned another US citizen, marine Paul Whelan, who was currently serving his sentence in Russia. She added, “We’re not going to forget [Whelan]. We’re going to remind Americans every day that he’s there, and that he needs to come back. We don’t want the family to think that we’re not paying attention.”

This was not the first time Hostin has spoken from Griner’s side. In July, she had shared on Twitter, “160 days. Brittney Yvette Griner is an Olympic gold medalist, WNBA champion and all star, and a global basketball icon who is being held wrongfully in Russia. It is time for her to come home! Learn her story. Sign petition: http://weareBG.org. Spread the word #weareBG.”

Meanwhile, it seems a lot of people did not agree with Hostin’s latest remark as a person tweeted, “Here's the thing, there are more women in this country than men, so if the WNBA isn't getting the support and the players not getting paid like the NBA players, that's women's fault, not men! IJS”

Another person tweeted, “I wish I made $221,000 dollars a year. I make about $40k but I stand for our flag and national anthem and I would have enough sense to not take cannabis to Russia.” The third user wrote, “Joy, Whoopi and Sunny such uplifting names yet their personalities are just the opposite! More fitting names would be: Jackass, Whoopie Cushion and S**t A**.”

“Why? Because wealthy people don't go to jail in a foreign country when caught with illegal drugs? Wrong!” a person said while another chimed in, “Average annual income is $87,841. This person makes a little under 3 times that. So oppressed and underpaid. They went to play in Russia because they make money.”

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