GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — While Minneapolis is the epicenter of women's basketball this week and weekend, I will bet my paycheck a lot of people in town will be having conversations about Brittney Griner — the WNBA star who has been in a Russian jail cell for weeks.
And the folks who love Griner and the game won't just be having a talk about why that is happening, but also why her story isn't a bigger deal in America.
The one bit of good news is that the U.S. government says it did get people in to see Griner this week while she's in Russian custody, and that she is doing "well."
But why hasn't more been done or said since she was detained in February?
I spoke with ESPN's lead investigator on the story to fill us in on what he's hearing.
"The people around her, on the advice of the U.S. State Department, tried to keep it very low profile," says ESPN's T.J. Quinn.
Quinn has been talking to people in the know about this from day one, and that advice, he thinks, is one Griner's family and others close to her are taking.
But, why?
"What they want to see is how far can they get her with her attorneys in Russia to see if they can't resolve this in a low-key way before they need to turn up the pressure, because the last thing they want is for (Vladimir) Putin to decide, 'I'm going to hang on to her as long as I want until I get what I want,'" he says.
Griner isn't the only American detained in Russia on questionable grounds. Two former U.S. Marines have been held by the Russian government for more than two years.
And the tightrope is tricky, especially now with Russia waging a war against neighboring Ukraine and, in essence, Western ideals.
"So, it's just added a layer of unpredictability that does nothing to ease the people in [Griner's] world," Quinn said.
And while patience may be a virtue, it can wear thin on the people who love Griner — her family, the people who support her and her fans.
"The people who support [Griner] have a mission and that is to get her home. U.S. State Department and U.S government? They have multiple missions. They have two other guys to get home, and foreign policy objectives as it pertains to Russia, and have to balance that. So I would think some time in the fairly near future, the interest between the U.S. government and [Griner] supporters may not be aligned anymore and they may decide they do need to speak up," said Quinn.
And that could come to a head. WNBA players are set to report for this season in a few weeks. Griner is a star in the women's league, so she will be a topic. One that has already come up is why Griner plays in Russia in the first place.
"They are in a league that is the highest level of the game in the world, and they have to go to Russia to get four times the money they get in the states," said Quinn.
All the players know that, and many want to have that conversation about paying them what they are worth here at home — the league might too.
But, T.J. thinks...
"They want to have that conversation. What they say is they don't want to have it now," Quinn said.
Just because getting Griner home is priority No. 1.
It's a terrible situation. Right now Griner isn't set to even get another hearing until the middle of May.
And, if for any reason, the Russian criminal justice system finds her guilty, she could be sentenced to prison time there for up to 10 years.