PHOENIX (AP) — Brittney Griner strolled down the sidelines about 1 1/2 hours before the Phoenix Mercury game Friday night and hugged her teammates, coaches and opposing players and gave them a high-five.
Then there was some stretching, some shooting, and some flexibility training to prepare for a basketball game.
Griner returned to action for the first time in almost a year 10 months imprisonment in Russia for drug-related offenses ended in a prisoner exchange in December. The seven-time All-Star, who missed the entire 2022 season due to incarceration, finished with 10 points and three rebounds in a WNBA preseason game against the Los Angeles Sparks.
The six-foot-tall Griner was looking good, especially considering the lengthy pause during which he casually hit a one-handed dunk during warm-up. When she was introduced before the opening, she received a loud ovation from the home audience.
When the game started, the 32-year-old immediately got to work, scoring a turnaround jumper early in the first quarter. A few minutes later she was fouled on another turn and sunk both free throws.
Griner’s return to the Mercury raises hope that the franchise can make it to the WNBA Finals again. The former Baylor star helped the franchise win its third title in 2014, averaging 17.7 points and 7.6 rebounds over her nine-year career. She was runner-up in the Most Valuable Player category in 2021.
Phoenix opens the regular season in Los Angeles next Friday.
The added burden of being detained in Russia for carrying e-cigarette cartridges containing cannabis oil has given Griner a platform Working to get other Americans jailed abroad. She has been an LGBTQ+ activist since coming public in 2013 and became the first openly gay athlete to be sponsored by Nike.
Griner announced in April that she is working with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign launched last year by the families of American hostages and inmates wrongfully held overseas. She said her team is in touch with the family of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being jailed in Russia on espionage charges.
AP sportswriter John Marshall contributed to this report.
AP Sports: and
