WNBA coach Becky Hammon calls on Russia to 'do the right thing' ahead of Brittney Griner sentencing

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Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon, who once won a medal for Russia in the 2008 Summer Olympics, is pleading with the Kremlin to "do the right thing" and release WNBA star Brittney Griner. 

The six-time WNBA All-Star, who spent much of her offseason time playing for Russian teams, spoke just days before the closing arguments in Griner’s case. 

Becky Hammon of Russia looks on against Australia during the women's basketball bronze medal game at the Olympic Games on Aug. 11, 2012, in London. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images))

"It’s something that obviously hits super close to home for me and so I just ask the Russian government to do the right thing," she told Reuters in an interview Tuesday. "It’s never too late to do the right thing. We're asking for leniency. We're asking for grace. And we're asking to bring home BG."

BRITTNEY GRINER TRIAL: RUSSIAN PROSECUTORS ASK FOR 9 ½-YEAR SENTENCE, WNBA STAR APOLOGIZES

Griner appeared in court on Thursday for the closing arguments in a trial where she pleaded guilty last month to cannabis possession after oils derived from cannabis were discovered in her bag at a Moscow airport in February.

She offered an apology in court before sentencing. 

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner enters a cage in a courtroom prior to a hearing in Khimki, just outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool Photo via AP)

"I want to apologize to my teammates, my club, my fans and the city of (Yekaterinburg) for my mistake that I made and the embarrassment that I brought on them," she said. "I want to also apologize to my parents, my siblings, the Phoenix Mercury