Brittney Griner Welcomed Back Home With BBQ And Dr. Pepper

WNBA star and 2x Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner was released from Russian prison after the United States and Russia came to a one-on-one prisoner swap deal late last week.

Griner, who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug charges, was released in exchange for international arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is known as the “Merchant of Death.”

Now, Griner is back home in the United States and is enjoying family time with a barbeque and her favorite, a Dr. Pepper.

The Olympic gold medalist is back home in the United States after spending months in Russian prisons, and is “upbeat, thankful and hopeful,” according to her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, who recently spoke with CNN.

Griner is trying to surround herself with "normal" activities, which includes indulging in a Dr. Pepper soda, the first drink she had in the airplane after landing.

Colas also said that many of Griner’s relatives have been visiting her off and on ever since she got back home, and are even bringing her traditional San Antonio barbecue food for her to enjoy.

The WNBA player is getting back into a better nutritional routine since landing back in the United States “Her energy level was really high,” Colas added.

Footage of the two-time Olympic gold medalist was released as the prisoner swap went down, and the one thing many noticed was that Griner no longer had her iconic dreadlocks. Many figured out that they must have been cut off in the weeks leading up to the swap considering she still had the dreads at a court hearing in late October, however, the reasoning was unknown — until now.

Brittney Griner‘s attorney, Maria Blagovolina, who has been representing the WBNA star in her trial in Russia, said the reason why Griner decided to chop off her iconic dreadlocks was because of the brutal Russian temperatures.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist cut her dreadlocks off two Sundays ago because every time she took a shower, afterward her hair would freeze. Brittney

“It’s very cold in there and every time she washed her hair she got cold and would get a chill,” Blagovolina said. “She should have waited until New Year’s Day.”

This comes as a shock to many WNBA fans who know Griner as she has had long hair for as long as people can remember.

Brittney Griner's wife, Cherelle, took to social media over the weekend and wrote a long, heartfelt post to her wife after being reunited, thanking many celebrities by name for their help in bringing Griner home.

“I’m humbled by their hearts. To care for another, a stranger to some, a friend to some— is humanity in its purest form! As BG and I start our journey to heal our minds, bodies, and spirits— I wanted to personally say thank you to some of the hands; seen and unseen, that helped make it possible for me to see my wife again!”

Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Robin Roberts, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson were just a few of the names Cherelle thanked.