As part of the celebrations, the team had WNBA star Brittney Griner and fellow WNBA player Brittney Skyes banged a drum to lead the arena in a "Let's go Panthers" chant. The team later posted a seemingly innocuous clip of the two appearing as the guest drummers on social media, which seemed to show the fans cheering and chanting along.
But, it turns out, the video failed to capture the loud boos that erupted when Griner was honored at the game on February 8. The 34-year-old has been playing in the 3-on-3 Unrivaled basketball league in Miami.
"Black History Night at Amerant Bank Arena for Senators-Panthers," Roy Bellamy, a senior producer for the Dan Le Batard Show, wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "Brittney Griner at the game tonight to bang on the drum. Unfortunately, she got booed by some of the fans. So basically the fans are booing a Black woman on Black History Night."
Bellamy wasn't the only one in the arena that noticed it. One person commented on the Panthers' Instagram post, "Almost the entire crowd booed them."Black HIstory Night at Amerant Bank Arena for Senators-Panthers. Brittney Griner at the game tonight to bang on the drum. unfortunately she got booed by some of the fans. so basically the fans are booing a black woman on Black History Night.
— Roy Bellamy (@roybelly) February 9, 2025
While disappointing, it is unfortunately not entirely surprising. Griner has become a target for right-wing talking heads after she was detained and jailed in Russia before being exchanged for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the "Merchant of Death."
Back in February 2022, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, officials arrested Griner at a Moscow airport after finding vape pens with cannabis oil in her luggage. The U.S. Department of State quickly classified the WNBA star as "wrongfully detained" and feared she would be used as a bargaining chip.
She later pleaded guilty, admitting she accidentally brought the hash oil with her in hopes of securing a less severe sentence. However, she was ultimately sentenced to nine years in prison and was sent to a penal colony.
As the Biden administration fought for her release, right-wingers bashed and called her an "anti-American" who didn't deserve to be freed, given she had previously kneeled during the national anthem.
Then, when the U.S. traded Bout for Griner in December 2022, many Republicans blasted the prisoner swap for giving up "too much" in exchange for Griner. Because she had "deserved" her punishment in their eyes, they wished that the administration instead secured former Marine Paul Whelan's release.
Even before the deal went through, then-former President Donald Trump criticized the proposal and called Griner "spoiled."
"He's absolutely one of the worst in the world, and he's going to be given his freedom because a potentially spoiled person goes into Russia loaded up with drugs," Trump said on the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show in August 2022. "She knew you don't go in there loaded up with drugs, and she admitted it. I assume she admitted it without too much force because it is what it is, and it certainly doesn't seem like a very good trade, does it?"
Following Griner's release, a right-wing provocateur harassed her about the "Merchant of Death," at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport as she traveled with her Phoenix Mercury teammates in June 2023.
Given Griner's 10-month detainment, Unrivaled launched as an alternative for WNBA players to avoid playing overseas in the off-season in potentially hostile environments to supplement their income.
