Photo source: Brittney Griner by Lorie Shaull is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
The three-time WNBA champion and Eight-time All-Star, Brittney Griner is officially returning to the courts.
After a tough year, Brittney Griner is back with her former team Phoenix Mercury for the 2023 season. The WNBA season will kick off on Friday, May 19, when the Mercury plays the Los Angeles Sparks in an away game.
The basketball star last played for the Mercury in 2021, when she led them to the WNBA Finals. Brittney averaged 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds to lead the Mercury in said game.
Back in February of 2022, Griner was wrongfully detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport for vape cartridges containing traces of hashish oil in her luggage. It got worse when she was sentenced to nine years behind bars and her appeal was denied. Eventually, she was to serve her time in a penal colony in Russia.
After some tough negotiations, Biden’s administration managed to organize a prisoner exchange. In December 2022, Brittney was released in return for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout – known as the ‘Merchant of Death’.
In a press conference, Brittney’s wife noted, “my family is whole. But as you all are aware, there are so many other families who are not whole.” Cherelle Griner continued, “BG’s not here to say this, but I will gladly speak on her behalf and say that BG and I will remain committed to the work on getting every American home, including Paul (Whelan), whose family is in our hearts today…”
“Today my family is whole — but as you all are aware, there’s so many families who are not whole.”
— ABC News (@ABC) December 8, 2022
Cherelle Griner pledges she and Brittney Griner “will remain committed to the work of getting every American home.” https://t.co/MNTPJkMnuu pic.twitter.com/L97SUSYflL
Griner was beaming in practice a few days after inking a one-year contract with her old team.
Welcome back BG!
