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WNBA star Brittney Griner is set to release a new memoir about her experience in a Russian prison from February to December 2023 on Tuesday, May 7.
In promotion of her new book, titled Coming Home, Griner sat down for an interview with ESPN in which she, among many other things, railed against the perception that she’s “anti-American,” which is something that became a conservative talking point during her captivity.
“One of the biggest things that really pissed me off, honestly, was being called non-American, and that I hate America,” Griner explained.
“When my dad literally fought for our country in Vietnam in ’68, ’69, took shrapnel to the head, lost a lot of his friends and went into law enforcement for 30-plus years, and I literally wanted to follow his footsteps. I had no plans on being a basketball player, I literally wanted to follow his footsteps,” she continued.
Griner said that just because she protested against police brutality back in 2020 does not mean that she “hates America.”
“And being told that I hate America, I was like, ‘Wait, when did I ever say that? When did I ever say I didn’t want to be here?’ Like, if I hated America, I wouldn’t live in America, you know? I’m here, I want to be here,” Griner said. “And because I protested against police brutality, apparently I hate cops? And I’m like, no, I don’t. I’m the one that was saying we should not defund our police departments. But you do one thing, and they just label you as something that you’re not.”
After obviously missing the entirety of the 2022 WNBA season, Griner — who is a WNBA champion, 2-time WNBA scoring leader, 2-time WNBA defensive player of the year, and 2-time Olympic gold medalist — returned to the WNBA court with the Phoenix Mercury for the 2023 season, appearing in 31 games. In those 31 games, Griner averaged 17.5 points 6.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per contest.