They say “lightning doesn’t strike twice,” but for Brittney Griner, rumors suggest otherwise. The WNBA star, Olympic gold medalist, and 2022 Russian detainee has long carried the weight of her past legal ordeal, which was a brutal 10-month imprisonment that ended only after a high-stakes prisoner swap. Since returning home, she vowed never to play overseas again. Yet now, a new alleged run-in with the law is making waves. But does this viral claim hold any truth?

How did the viral claim start?

A Facebook handle named “Inspired and Empower” with 19,000 followers, claiming to be a news outlet, posted the news. According to the post, Griner was arrested in Brussels, Belgium, for possessing counterfeit sports cards.

“This may sound like something very silly,” Belgian Customs Director Josef Barrone allegedly said. “But we’re talking about millions of US dollars in fraud. She had fourteen Michael Jordan rookie cards in mint condition.” The post has 1800 likes and 870 comments at the time of writing.

Has Brittney Griner really been arrested again?

Currently, there is no evidence that Griner was arrested in Brussels or anywhere else in the world. No credible outlet has reported this breaking news, and the quotes from the Belgian Customs officer remain unverified.

The claim is likely false as the head of Belgian Customs and Excise is currently Kristian Vanderwaeren, not Josef Barrone. There is no publicly available information regarding an individual named “Josef Barrone” associated with the Belgian Ministry of Customs.

Brittney Griner’s 2022 arrest in Russia – Why the past is fueling new rumors

Jarred Shaw, a standout from Oklahoma State and Utah State, was arrested with similar issues as Griner in Indonesia earlier this year. Shaw has been playing internationally for a few years and was playing for the Tangerang Hawks. On May 7, he was arrested for picking up a package in his hotel lobby. 

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Police announced that Shaw was arrested for having a package of THC-infused gummies sent from Thailand to his home in Indonesia with the intent of distribution. Shaw claimed that he was using the cannabis gummies for medical purposes. He explained that he’s been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and dealt with chronic stomach pain.

That also lines up with Griner’s story, who claimed that the cannabis was used for chronic pain caused by sports injuries and even presented a doctor’s note from a US medical center. After this news broke out, Brittney Griner’s name popped back up on social media.

Just like Shaw, Griner was in Russia to supplement her WNBA income, playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg. For Griner, the charges were of bringing vape cartridges filled with hashish oil in her luggage. It was a highly publicized case mixing politics with sports, which still lingers in people’s minds. It’s easy to spread believable fake news if a personality has a past like Griner’s. 

Did Brittney Griner respond to the viral allegation?

No, Brittney Griner has not replied to or debunked this viral allegation. She has likely not even seen it. Her social media activity has been almost none since the WNBA season completed. 

“There are definitely things that you can do over social media. I do it on my page, where you can limit some of the things that are seen, putting in keywords that if somebody puts in a comment that should not be on a page,” Griner said back in September last year.

The scars from the Russia incident have affected Griner, and maybe she has been avoiding social media since then. Still, even without Griner’s statement, there is no record of Brittney Griner being arrested in Brussels or anywhere else, and the counterfeit-card story lives only in a viral Facebook post, not in reality. If this wasn’t enough, there’s another rumor doing the rounds in her name.