Brittney Griner is back home in the United States after being detained in Russia for the last 10 months over trumped up cannabis charges. Griner’s released was executed by President Joe Biden in a prisoner exchange for Viktor Bout. Griner is now beginning the long road to recovery back home with her family, and on Friday she posted on social media for the first time.
Brittney Griner says she’ll play in WNBA this season in first social media post since release
BG says she will be back on the floor for the Phoenix Mercry when the WNBA begins
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Griner thanked her wife, her agency, grassroots organizers, and the politicians who eventually were able to set her free in an Instagram post. She also dropped a little nugget: she intends to play for the Phoenix Mercury this season when the new year begins in May. Here’s Griner’s Instagram post, with the full caption copied below:
Here’s what Griner wrote in her caption:
It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn. 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 am grateful to each person who advocated for me, especially my wife, Cherelle Griner, my family, Lindsay Kagawa Colas and Casey Wasserman and my whole team at Wasserman, Vince Kozar and the Phoenix Mercury, the players of the WNBA, and my entire WNBA family, Terri Jackson and the WNBPA staff, my Russian legal team Maria Blagovolina and Alex Boykov, the leaders, activists, and grassroots organizations, Gov. Richardson and Mickey Bergman of the Richardson Center, the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, Roger Carstens and the SPEHA team, and of course, a special thank you to President Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary Blinken and the entire Biden-Harris Administration.
President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too. I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you. I also encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home. Every family deserves to be whole.
As I transition home to enjoy the holidays with my family, I want to acknowledge and thank the entire PISA staff and medical team at the San Antonio Fort Hood Base. I appreciate the time and care to make sure I was okay and equipped with the tools for this new journey.
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.
Love always,
BG #42
Photo credit: U.S. Army South photo by Miguel Negron
Griner last played for the Phoenix Mercury during the 2021 season when she led her club to the WNBA Finals, where they were defeated by the Chicago Sky in four games.
Griner is 32 years old and is considered one of the great women’s basketball players of this generation. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA, and an 8-time WNBA All-Star. She also helped lead Phoenix to the 2014 WNBA championship.
Fans around the country will now be able to cheer on Griner this season. It’s so good to have BG back home, and it will be great to see her back on the floor.
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