This weekend was a big one for Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner as the eight-time WNBA All-Star played in her first game since being released from a Russian prison, scoring 10 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday.
Griner hadn’t played a professional basketball game in 572 days so she must have been happy to get that first one back out of the way, though it was only a preseason fixture.
A WNBA champion in 2014, Griner had spoken out against the national anthem being played before games during the George Floyd protests in 2020, claiming she would not stand for it.
But, given her ordeal in Russia, it appears she’s had a change of heart. Griner stood for the rendition alongside her teammates on the weekend and later admitted to reporters that the feeling was different.
“Hearing the national anthem, it definitely hit different,” she said. “It’s like when you go for the Olympics, you’re sitting there, about to get gold put on your neck, the flags are going up, and the anthem is playing, it just hits different.”
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The 32-year-old will make her official return to WNBA basketball when the Mercury kicks off its regular season against the Sparks in Los Angeles next Friday.
