Brittney Griner Breaks Silence On Airport Incident: 'You're Really Playing With Fire'

Brittney Griner Breaks Silence On Airport Incident: 'You're Really Playing With Fire',Brittney Griner broke her silence after the airport incident in which she was harassed by a YouTuber, saying the wait and see game is "playing with fire."

Brittney Griner Breaks Silence On Airport Incident: ‘You’re Really Playing With Fire’

Brittney Griner is speaking out against the “wait-and-see game” that she described as “playing with fire.”

After being harassed by YouTuber Alex Stein in the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport while traveling to a game earlier this month with the Phoenix Mercury, Griner, 32, is talking about the importance of travel safety.

Brittney Griner Talked To The Media About The “Rock Bottom” Moment For The League

According to ESPN, Griner was on a video call with media as the Mercury introduced interim coach Nikki Blue, who is replacing Vanessa Nygaard. Nygaard was fired on Sunday after the Mercury’s 2-10 start. As Griner addressed the coaching change, she also opened up about the team’s travel safety.

“I’ll say this. I think we should have already had the option to use a different airline, a more private airline, charter flights. It’s a shame that it had to get to rock bottom, because I feel like waiting for something to happen and then making a change…you don’t know what that ‘something’s’ going to be,” she said.

“We’ve all seen what can happen in this world. And when you play the ‘let’s-wait-and-see game,’ you’re really playing with fire. You’re playing with people’s lives.”

She continued to say that she’s glad “they finally got it together.” “It’s just a shame it took so damn long, honestly,” she said.

Both the WNBA and the Mercury agreed that for safety reasons, the team’s travel situation will remain under wraps.

The WNBA Started Talking About Charter Flights Earlier This Year

In January, Breanna Stewart, 28, the highest profile free agent last offseason who left the Seattle Storm and joined the Liberty, shared in a tweet what she’s willing to do to help the charter flight situation.

“I would love to be part of a deal that helps subsidize charter travel for the entire WNBA,” she tweeted. “I would contribute my NIL, posts + production hrs to ensure we all travel in a way that prioritizes health + safety, which ultimately results in a better product. Who’s with me?”

Cathy Engelbert, WNBA commissioner, told ESPN that the cost to charter flights for all of the teams in the league during the season would cost approximately $20 million.

p id=”mntl-sc-block_1-0-33″>”It would be more than $20 million a year to fund charter flights for an entire WNBA season,” Engelbert said. “So this is something that we’re not going to jeopardize the financial health of the league and be irresponsible about. If we can get it funded by sponsors and supporters, great, but that’s not where we are. We do not have that.”

She explained that they’ve talked to major airlines and charter companies and has been working on this since she came to the league.

“But without sponsors stepping up, it’s just not in the cards right now,” she said. “If we could get it sponsored or funded in some way … I’m all ears. I’ve gotten lots of calls over the past year about this since we’ve been back in our 12 markets. Then when people price it out, and they see it’s $20 million-plus, you never hear from them again.”