WNBA player Brittney Griner shocked by critics who claim she's unpatriotic: ‘I’m blown away’

WNBA star Brittney Griner hit back at critics calling her "unpatriotic" on Thursday during an interview on "The View," months after she was released from Russian prison.

WNBA player Brittney Griner said she's "blown away" that critics have called her un-America for kneeling during the national anthem.

"The View" co-host Joy Behar on Thursday asked Griner to respond to those who believed she acted carelessly in Russia and didn't deserve America's help because she had knelt during the national anthem. 

"Everyone has made a mistake before," Griner said, responding to people who deemed her "careless." "The unpatriotic thing, that blows my mind, because, one, my dad fought for this country, ’68, ’69, Vietnam Marines and law enforcement for 30 plus years. Dad was my hero. I wanted to be a cop. I didn’t want to play basketball growing up, I wanted to be a cop and go into the military, actually. And doesn’t it make me more American that I’m demonstrating a protest? That's my right as an American, so for me to be called un-American, I was blown away at that."

Griner said there were many places around the world where citizens can't protest. After her February 2022 arrest in a Russian airport for carrying two vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, Griner was released in December 2022 in exchange for then-imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

WNBA player Brittney Griner joined the co-hosts of "The View" on Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Screenshot/ABC)

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The co-hosts agreed and noted that people in Russia weren't allowed to protest. 

Griner was moved to a penal colony nearly 300 miles outside of Moscow after receiving a