Brittney Griner is getting set to play her first action in the WNBA since she was released from a Russian prison.
Griner never saw this day coming until she was let out of a Russian jail after her nine-year sentence had been completed.
During her first press conference, since she returned to the United States, Brittney Griner shared a pretty brutal truth about her physical condition.
“Am I where I want to be? No, because last time I was with my team I was against Chicago in the Finals, and as much as I want to be ‘Finals BG’ right now, it’s not the case,” Griner said according to ESPN. “So, just kind of giving myself some grace and my teammates just picking me up. But I feel like I’m at a good spot to start a training camp though for sure.
The last time Griner was on a WNBA court was on Oct. 17, 2021, when they lost the WNBA Finals to the Chicago Sky.
“I mean I didn’t fall out, they didn’t have to get a stretcher or oxygen or anything, so I guess I’m doing pretty good.”
Amid the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, Griner was found guilty and sentenced to nine out of a possible 10 years in a Russian penal colony, where she reported in November. However, she was freed a month later after the US State Department negotiated the prisoner exchange for Victor Bout.
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Griner made the decsion this week that her days of playing in international leagues are over.
“I’m never going overseas to play again unless I’m representing my country at the Olympics,” she said on Thursday, as part of her first press conference since she was released in December. “You know, if I make that team, that would be the only time I would leave the U.S. soil.”
She and the Mercury will be part of a campaign this season in support of other Americans detained overseas, including former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, whom negotiators tried to include in the swap that brought Griner home.
