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The Brittney Griner saga was in the national news for months. The famous women’s basketball player even became an international story after being captured by Russia when she allegedly was in possession of marijuana at a Russian airport.
Griner was kept in captivity for 294 days in Russian prison. Pressure grew on the US government to secure her release, and they did last week.
Griner is one of the best women’s basketball players ever. The 6’8 center was the national player of the year in college for Baylor and led them to a national title. Since being selected first overall in the WNBA Draft in the 2013 draft. Since then, she’s been an eight-time WNBA all-star, two-time scoring champ, and a six-time all-league selection. She helped her team to a WNBA title in 2014 and has won two Olympic gold medals.
But, it would be easy to see why they 32-year-old wouldn’t want to return to playing basketball after the ordeal she went through. Now, the star has made a statement on a potential return to play.
Brittney Griner intends to return to the Mercury next season
Friday morning, Griner published a statement on her Instagram.
Brittney Griner shared a message on Instagram thanking those who advocated for her release from Russia, and announced that she plans to play for the Phoenix Mercury this season. pic.twitter.com/lFBBXt0Zly
— ESPN (@espn) December 16, 2022
In it, she thanked those that helped her get out of Russian custody and then made a statement on her future.
“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.”
Wow. I thought she would take more time off. Granted, the next season doesn’t start until next summer. But, who could’ve blamed her for taking more time off or quitting altogether?