Temple’s Diane Richardson has a personal perspective on Brittney Griner

Diane Richardson is well-connected enough in the women’s basketball world that if you watched the WNBA All-Star Game this past summer, you’d have seen the Temple coach in a prime seat behind one of the benches.

But when it comes to Brittney Griner’s freedom from imprisonment in Russia, it’s personal.

Richardson is the legal guardian of Jonquel Jones, the Connecticut Sun star who’s been a teammate of Griner’s in Russia for the last four WNBA offseasons. Whenever Jones and Griner have shared a court, Richardson has found a way to watch.

Richardson was in the midst of a staff meeting Thursday morning in her office at Temple when her watch buzzed with the news of Griner’s release.

“We just started yelling,” Richardson told The Inquirer. “We were happy, happy, happy. It was awesome.”

Richardson had just gotten off the phone with Jones, who’s spending this offseason playing in Turkey, moments before connecting with this reporter.

“She’s great; she is just ecstatic,” Richardson said of Jones, the 2021 WNBA MVP and four-time All-Star. “She texted this morning when she heard it and was just really, really happy.”

Like many people outside the negotiations for Griner’s freedom, there were times when Richardson wondered if the day would never come.

“For a while there, we were like, ‘Wow, what is our government doing?’” she said. “Just constantly having to say her name so that we felt like something was being done, while she was still in the hearts and minds of our government and they would still continue to fight for her.”

Now that the moment has arrived, it has brought not just joy to the women’s basketball community, but perhaps also a lesson for the sport’s many young fans: A hostage negotiation can require a whole lot of patience, but sustaining belief can pay off. Griner was arrested last February after Russian customs discovered less than a gram of cannabis oil in her luggage. She was found guilty and given a nine-year sentence. It took a prisoner swap for Russia to release her.

“There’s still some hope that we can still believe in our government and believe in them fighting for us as U.S. citizens,” Richardson said.

» READ MORE: Sixers among those celebrating Brittney Griner’s release from Russian prison, U.S. return

And it is not lost on her that in this case, one of the people the government has prominently fought for — along with Paul Whelan and other hostages held elsewhere — is a Black, gay woman who plays one of the world’s most popular professional sports.

“We as Americans, and people, now see that’s just not fair,” Richardson said. “And it sheds a light where people are more like, now they can see the human side of it — the human side of being Black, the human side of being gay, and how others look at you and how you’re penalized based on that.”

Griner’s detention was a regular talking point among Richardson’s Temple players, who’ve worn the message “WE ARE BG” on their practice jerseys this season. That same message has been displayed by players, coaches, and fans across the country throughout the saga.

“We wear those every day just as a reminder, so it’s been on their minds,” Richardson said. “And we’ve been praying about it. It was a joy for everybody to be able to hear that [news].”

It’s had a particular impact on players with aspirations to turn pro after college. Those who aspire to play abroad are thinking about off-the-court factors more than before.

“Young ladies want to play overseas because it gives them an opportunity to play professionally,” Richardson said. “But now they’re looking at where these opportunities are, and with a closer magnifying glass than they had before, based on what the culture is like there. … And so people are starting to have deep dives into where these leagues are, and where they’re playing, and what the security is like.”