Brittney Griner is set to join the Mercury for the first day of preseason camp Sunday, a feat that once felt like a distant dream. The WNBA star hasn’t played competitive basketball since February 2022, when she was wrongfully detained in Russia after being arrested while traveling through a Moscow-area airport, with Russian officials claiming she was in possession of hashish oil. Following a 10-month detainment, Griner was released in December via a prisoner swap secured by the U.S. government. Since her return home, Griner has been clear about her intention to make a comeback to the court with her longtime WNBA team, the Mercury. Griner reiterated that objective Thursday in her first public comments since her release.
“I am no stranger to hard times,” Griner said through tears, kicking off an emotional press conference. “You’re going to face adversities throughout life. ... This was a pretty big one.”
The event also platformed the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, with Griner and the Mercury partnering with the group to bring awareness to people still wrongfully detained abroad. Griner, who has quickly become the face of Americans detained overseas, has been outspoken about the issue, including with a message to current detainees: “Keep fighting. Don’t give up. Find a routine. ... Keep pushing because we’re not gonna stop fighting.”
Touching on her time in Russia (though she declined to get into specifics), Griner remembered getting news of the efforts to bring her home, including the #WeAreBG campaign and the work of her wife, Cherelle Griner, which she said made her more comfortable. “It made me have hope, which was a really hard thing to have.”
The Mercury, who had been anxiously awaiting Griner’s arrival for months, struggled without the star—on and off the court. “The person it was hardest on was BG,” says Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard. “So we had to keep that front of mind, no matter how difficult our situation was.”
More than four months out from her return to U.S. soil, Griner’s presence in Phoenix still feels like a fantasy, something her new coach counts as a daily blessing. “Every time I see her walk into the gym or I look down and see her on the court I remind myself of where she was and how precious it is to have her there,” says Nygaard. “Every time I see her I just say a little prayer and a little thank-you that she is back.”
Griner’s ordeal has put a lot into perspective for Nygaard, in only her second year with Phoenix, and is shaping how she and her team approach the upcoming season: with gratitude. The WNBA All-Star, for one, knows she needs to get herself back into playing shape. But she hasn’t lost her competitive edge.
“I always believe in my ability,” said Griner. “Being realistic, am I exactly where I want to be? No. But I’m on the right track to getting there.”
With something once as simple as a plank causing Griner problems early on in her time home, the star hooper knew returning to the court would be a process. “It’s been a struggle, but it’s liberating as well ... just getting back to my craft,” said Griner, who remembers throwing it down once she landed in San Antonio from Russia, even joking about dunking on her wife. Nygaard echoes Griner’s assessment of her game, saying, “Obviously, there is a long road for her, and she’s worked extremely hard.”
The cherry on top for so many that wished only for Griner’s safe return will be the reunion of one of the best duos in WNBA history: Diana Taurasi and BG. Griner admitted she was worried that Taurasi was going to “retire on her.” The two have played together since Griner was drafted to Phoenix in 2013, winning a WNBA title in ’14.
“I mean, who wouldn’t want to play with a walking fossil?” Griner, 32, joked of 40-year-old Taurasi. That type of rapport is par for the course with the longtime teammates and friends, with Taurasi even picking up Griner from Texas to bring her home to Phoenix.
“I heard that that plane ride was amazing,” Nygaard says, laughing. “I think the joy they are going to have playing together … is going to be something really beautiful to watch.”
Griner is also eager to highlight the WNBA with the heightened attention her situation has drawn. The Mercury star called on the media in attendance at the Footprint Center on Thursday to come to the team’s games and to amplify the WNBA’s product come summertime. Griner’s position has also underscored some of the league’s ongoing struggles, including its pay structure. “The whole reason a lot of us go over is pay gap,” said Griner, adding that she has no intention to compete abroad again unless she is representing Team USA.
With overseas contracts far more lucrative than that of the WNBA, many players travel abroad for financial security. “As much as I’d love to pay my light bill for the love of the game, I can’t,” said Griner. “I think that’s why players still go overseas.” Griner’s expanding platform isn’t something that she appears to be shying away from, speaking on a range of issues, including offering her support when asked about trans athletes.
More will likely come from Griner on her personal experience in Russia—she’s at work on a memoir—but for now, the star is focused on getting back on the court, albeit with a shift in perspective. Griner says she is “not taking anything for granted” as “life is short. Things can change at the stroke of a match.”
That mindset has certainly bled through to the rest of the team, which will approach this year looking to avenge a challenging 2022 season, but also with a renewed outlook and a greater purpose.
“How could you not look at BG and just be like, ‘Wow. She could still be there?’” asks Nygaard. “It’s a miracle that she is back.”
