Brittney Griner says US government should have got imprisoned marine Paul Whelan in the trade for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout during teaser for ABC interview that will air tomorrow

Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner says she was hoping that she wasn't the only American being freed from a Russian prison in 2022.

Griner was arrested in February of 2022 and released that December in a prisoner swap with the Russians.

In a preview of an interview Griner held with Robin Roberts on ABC's 20/20, the WNBA star says she hoped that Paul Whelan was on the plane with her.

Whelan has been detained in Russia since 2018 on accusations of spying and was sentenced to 16 years in prison back in June of 2020.

'When I walked on and I didn't see him, I was like, okay, maybe I'm early. Maybe he's next. Maybe they're going to bring him next.

Brittney Griner says she wishes that Paul Whelan joined her on the flight back to the US

Griner believes that the trade to bring her back should have also included Whelan

'And when they closed the door, I was like, "Are you seriously not going to let this man come home right now?"'

Griner was traded for Viktor Bout, an arms dealer given the nickname 'the Merchant of Death'. 

She says that the US government should have pushed harder to try and bring both herself and Whelan back.

'If it was left up to me in that trade, I would have went and got Paul and brought him home,' Griner says.

'But any time that we can bring home an American, that is a win for Americans. No one should be left behind.'