Brittney Griner says she will stand for the US national anthem upon her return to WNBA action.
On Friday the female basketball star returned to competitive action for the first time since 2021 and received an overwhelming response from the Los Angeles crowd. The likes of NBA legend Magic Johnson and US Vice President Kamala Harris were in attendance as the 32-year-old made her long-awaited return. Despite scoring 18 points and recording six rebounds and four blocks in 25 minutes, the Phoenix Mercury lost 94-71 to the LA Sparks.
Griner, who previously knelt when the national anthem was played in protest for social justice in 2020, chose to stand for the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ in her first match back in action. Explaining her decision, she told ESPN : "You have the right to protest, the right to speak out, question, challenge and do all these things," Griner explained. "What I went through and everything, it just means a little bit more to me now. So I want to be able to stand.
“I was literally in a cage [in Russia ] and could not stand the way I wanted to. Just being able to hear my national anthem, see my flag, I definitely want to stand. Now everybody that will not stand or not come out, I totally support them 100 percent. That's our right, as an American in this great country."
Griner was out of action for a prolonged period of time due to being arrested and detained in Russia for being in possession of cannabis oil. The 2014 WNBA champion was sentenced to nine years in prison, but was released and flown back to the US last December.
This was due to a high-profile prisoner exchange with Russia, which saw them take Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout who was locked up in America. Griner patted her heart and applauded the raucous response of the crowd as she embraced an atmosphere she not only hadn’t experienced for a long period, but one the basketball star thought she may never experience again.
"When you're in a situation, you adapt," Griner said. "I looked at it from a worst-case scenario. So I [didn't] get my hopes up. I'm just happy to be here. I appreciate everything a little bit more, all of the small moments, like, ‘Oh, I’m so tired I don’t want to go to practice today,’ that has changed, honestly.
"Tomorrow is not guaranteed, you don’t know what it’s going to look like. I feel a lot older somehow, too." Griner was greeted by the Vice President with a hug and she delivered a speech in the locker room. “I know that was rough and that was so difficult for you,” Harris said. “A team is a team, that’s family.”
"It was amazing," Griner said of Harris being in attendance. "It was nice to be able to see her face-to-face, talk to her, thank her for everything. And then the team really enjoyed it, too, when she came in." The Mercury will be action again on Sunday when they host the Chicago Sky at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.
