Brittney Griner Re-Signs with Phoenix Mercury
Brittney Griner is a basketball legend, a two-time Olympic champion, an openly queer athlete, and was recently a Russian detainee for 10 excruciating months. Now she’s finally back in the U.S. and has announced her triumphant return to the Phoenix Mercury.
Griner was apprehended back in February 2022 at an airport for having vape cartridges containing cannabis oils in her luggage. After many months of back-and-forth, Griner was finally able to return home in December after 10 months of imprisonment at a Russian penal colony.
“It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn,” Griner writes in one Instagram post. “I dug deep to keep my faith, and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.”
“I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon.”
Griner, 32, has signed a one-year contract with the team. Basketball site Her Hoops Stats was the first to report the news.
Source confirms that Brittney Griner has re-signed with the Phoenix Mercury. Deal is one year, protected, $165,100. Precisely calculated to leave Phoenix just enough for two vet minimums and two base minimums in their final four standard roster spots. #WNBA #WNBAFreeAgency
— Richard Cohen (@RichardCohen1) February 18, 2023
The General Manager of Phoenix Mercury, Jim Pitman, rejoices to the news. “It’s a great day for all of us to announce that Brittney Griner has officially signed to play for the Mercury in 2023. We missed BG every day that she was gone, and, while basketball was not our primary concern, her presence on the floor, in our locker room, around our organization, and within our community was greatly missed.” And he adds, “This is a special signing, and today is a special day for all of us.”
(Photo credit: @BleacherReport on Twitter)
