Brittney Griner played her first WNBA games after spending 10 months detained in Russia. Here's what it was like during her emotional return.

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Meredith CashMay 23, 2023, 03:03 IST
Brittney Griner played her first WNBA games after spending 10 months detained in Russia. Here's what it was like during her emotional return.

Brittney Griner smiles during her return to Phoenix's Footprint Center.AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

  • Brittney Griner played her first WNBA game in 579 days after spending 10 months detained in Russia.
  • The atmosphere surrounding her return to play was unlike anything the league has ever seen.

Brittney Griner's highly-anticipated return to the hardwood lived up to its expectations.

The WNBA superstar — who spent 10 months of 2022 detained in Russia — played in her first WNBA game in 579 days on Friday, then returned to Phoenix for her first home game in nearly two years. Both contests featured star-studded crowds, tearful displays of support, and incredible play from Griner herself.

Here's what it was like inside Griner's big weekend.

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Brittney Griner headed to Los Angeles to make her WNBA return.

Brittney Griner headed to Los Angeles to make her WNBA return.
Brittney Griner handles the ball in her 2023 WNBA debut against the Los Angeles Sparks.Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Griner and the Mercury opened the 2023 WNBA season with a road contest against the Los Angeles Sparks.

Even still, Crypto.com Arena was buzzing over the 6-foot-9 Phoenix center's return. The crowd offered Griner a standing ovation as soon as she took the floor for warm-ups.

Vice President Kamala Harris gave Griner and her teammates a pep-talk ahead of the game.

Vice President Kamala Harris gave Griner and her teammates a pep-talk ahead of the game.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the Phoenix Mercury ahead of their 2023 season opener.Mario Tama/Getty Images

Vice President Kamala Harris, who was pivotal in the fight to secure the prisoner exchange with Russia that brought Griner back stateside, was in attendance for the Mercury superstar's WNBA re-debut. She even stepped into Phoenix's locker room to commend Griner and her team for their resilience throughout the hardships of the last year.

"Thank you for all that you did in supporting Brittney," Harris said. "Because I know that was rough, and that was so difficult for you."

"A team is a team — that's family," she added.

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Other stars came out for the special occasion.

Other stars came out for the special occasion.
Michael Cooper (left) and Billie Jean King attend Brittney Griner's first game back.Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Other big names flocked to Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena — and, two days later, to Phoenix's Footprint Center — to watch BG play. Tennis legend and prominent activist Billie Jean King was spotted sitting alongside Los Angeles Lakers legend Michael Cooper.

Current Lakers coach Darvin Ham was on hand in Hollywood, as was Los Angeles great Pau Gasol along with NBA icon Magic Johnson and his wife, Cookie. And Dawn Staley, the WNBA great who coached Griner to gold at the Tokyo Olympics, was there to give the star center a warm embrace.

The crowd gave Griner a standing ovation when her name was announced.

In front of what would ordinarily be a hostile crowd 10,396 people strong, Griner heard her name called over the arena speakers alongside the words "welcome home." Fans rose to their feet and offered raucous applause for the superstar. 

 

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For the first time in years, Griner stood for the national anthem.

For the first time in years, Griner stood for the national anthem.
Brittney Griner stands for the national anthem.Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

In past years, Griner has advocated against playing the national anthem ahead of sporting events. She joined several WNBA peers by remaining in the locker room for pregame festivities during the 2021 season.

But after spending 10 months detained in Russia, Griner has instead opted to stand for the anthem during the 2023 season.

Days ahead of Griner's debut, her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, penned an essay for Time magazine in which she explained the reasoning behind Griner's choice.

"Having been put in a literal cage, too small for her frame, stripped of her essential American freedoms, and deprived of even her most basic rights during a sham trial and unjust sentencing, Brittney, supported by many other players, will make a statement this WNBA season by standing tall for those uniquely American freedoms — the most important of which being the absolute and inviolable and constitutionally protected freedom to stand, sit, kneel, praise, protest, and otherwise make your voice heard," Colas wrote.

Then she led her team in scoring despite spending so long away from the hardwood.

Then she led her team in scoring despite spending so long away from the hardwood.
Brittney Griner handles the ball against the Los Angeles Sparks.AP Photo/Ashley Landis

Hannah Wengertsman, the Mercury head athletic trainer and physical therapist, was instrumental in helping Griner get back into shape to compete this season. She told Insider that it would be "important to manage expectations" as Griner returns to the court.

Griner left the WNBA in 2021 as an MVP candidate who averaged a whopping 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game, ranking top-10 in the league in all three categories. It would be unfair, Wengertsman argued, for folks to expect "the same BG you saw when she last played" mere months after experiencing the trauma of Russia detainment.

But Griner met the moment in breathtaking fashion, leading the Mercury with 18 points while adding six rebounds and four blocks.

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Two days later, Griner was back in action — this time on her home floor in Phoenix.

Two days later, Griner was back in action — this time on her home floor in Phoenix.
Brittney Griner with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.AP Photo/Matt York

The Mercury hosted the Chicago Sky on Sunday for what was dubbed the "Welcome Home Opener." It was Griner's first opportunity to play in front of Phoenix's loyal fanbase, known as "The X-Factor," in nearly two years, and she felt the love from her home crowd immediately.

"It means everything," Griner said in her post-game press conference. "Anybody who comes to this game knows the X-Factor and that you're gonna see, hear, feel the intensity. It's every single night, from the start of the game to the end."

"Being able to play in front of them means everything to me," she added. "I don't take it for granted, that's for sure."

Griner choked up when she was re-introduced at Phoenix's Footprint Center.

 

Skylar Grey's "Coming Home" blared through the dimly-lit arena as Griner stepped into view and stood atop a red carpet. Screens on either side of the superstar flickered with photos of her reuniting with her teammates and posing for media day.

Fans roared as Griner crossed her arms in front of her chest, a symbol associated with the "X-Factor," and waited for her signal. Then she jogged out onto the court as the announcer said her name.

"There may have been a little dust in my eye," Griner said after the game. "Part of the process of healing is just kind of letting it out so yeah, I got choked up a little bit. Tried to hide it but you caught it."

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She won the tip-off and scored on the first possession of the game.

She won the tip-off and scored on the first possession of the game.
Brittney Griner celebrates a play during her homecoming game in Phoenix.Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Griner enjoyed a storybook start to her homecoming game. She won the tip over the Sky's Elizabeth Williams, then positioned herself in the paint to collect a pass from longtime teammate Diana Taurasi.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist took a few dribbles, showcased some fancy footwork under the basket, then dropped in a close-range shot through contact. Her defender was whistled for the foul, and Griner converted the foul shot for a quick three points.

At halftime, Grammy winner Wyclef Jean sang a moving rendition of "One Love."

At halftime, Grammy winner Wyclef Jean sang a moving rendition of "One Love."
Wyclef Jean performs at halftime of the Phoenix Mercury's 2023 home debut.Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Griner racked up nine points, four rebounds, and two blocks through the first half of play. But even once she was back in the locker room, fans were treated to a show on the court.

Three-time Grammy winner Wyclef Jean performed Bob Marley's smash hit, "One Love," at center court while surrounded by hundreds of fans. He later performed some of his biggest hits in a postgame concert at the arena.

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Griner finished her home re-debut as the game's leader in points, rebounds, and blocks.

Griner finished her home re-debut as the game's leader in points, rebounds, and blocks.
Brittney Griner reacts to draining a three-point shot.Christian Petersen/Getty Images

There's no way around it: Griner looked as good as ever in her return to the Footprint Center. She finished the game with a whopping 27 points — which included an uncharacteristic three points from beyond the arc — as well as 10 rebounds and four blocks. She was, far and away, the best player on the floor Sunday afternoon.

And though her Mercury didn't come away with the win, Griner undoubtedly took some pride in her stellar play in just her second game back.

"My mindset was, if I'm the first option, I've got to go score it," Griner said after the game. "If I'm not, then I need to get my player open."

"But it always feels good when the first bucket goes down," she added.

Reminders to support Americans who remain wrongfully detained abroad were everywhere throughout Griner's first home game.

 

Much of the team's programming surrounding the game focused on Griner's continued work advocating for Americans wrongfully detained around the world. Letter-writing stations were planted around the Footprint Center so that fans could send messages of support to Americans who remain imprisoned overseas or lobby members of government to act on their behalf.

The hardwood was emblazoned with the logo of the Bring Our Families Home campaign — a coalition of families working to bring their loved ones home from wrongful detainment — after the Mercury partnered with the organization ahead of the season.

Campaign chair Neda Sharghi, who has a brother wrongfully detained in Iran, was on hand to support Griner on Sunday. So was Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs who was critical to the efforts that brought Griner stateside.

"What we saw today was exactly how I pictured it," Carstens said during Griner's postgame press conference. "BG home. Cherelle cheering her on. BG's family in the crowd and BG back on the court doing what she does best, and that's playing basketball."

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