American basketball star Brittney Griner sent a "thank you" message to supporters Tuesday on her 32nd birthday and she continues to be detained in a Russian prison.

Griner, who was arrested in February and sentenced in August, is "very stressed" about an upcoming court hearing, according to her attorneys.

"Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home," Griner said in a statement released by her attorneys. "All the support and love are definitely helping me."

Griner's attorneys Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov also said Griner is losing hope that she will be freed before her nine-year sentence ends.

"Today is of course a difficult day for Brittney," Blagovolina said in the Tuesday statement. "Not only is this her birthday in jail away from her family, teammates and friends, but she is very stressed in anticipation of the appeal hearing."

Griner, who played for a Russian professional basketball team, was arrested at a Moscow airport in February, days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Authorities said she was carrying two vaping cartridges with hashish oil.

President Joe Biden has said that Griner is wrongfully detained and called for her immediate release.

An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin recently dismissed the White House's pleas to have Griner released.

"In this tense situation, I think that [Biden] is thinking first and foremost about the upcoming midterm elections," Yury Ushakov said on a state-run television program. "He keeps emphasizing the need to bring [Griner] back home ... however, it's not the main issue that we are concerned about."

Griner's supporters marked her birthday with public calls for her release.

"We want to continue to use our platform to and the opportunity to shout out a very special member of the basketball community," Golden State Warrior star Stephen Curry said Tuesday at the team's championship ceremony.

"We want to continue to let her name be known and we pray that it's been 243 days that she's been wrongfully incarcerated in Russia. We hope that she comes home soon and everybody is doing their part to get her home," Curry said.