Photo Courtesy of ESPN / Twitter
WNBA star Brittney Griner is reportedly returning to the Phoenix Mercury.
According to ESPN, an anonymous source said that the 32-year-old, who was once a free agent, signed a $165,100 one-year contract with the Mercury. The team hasn’t made an official announcement but reported Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, who sat the 2022 season out due to a quad injury, was returning this year.
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After the US agreed with Russia to trade Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner, the WNBA player took to Instagram to express her gratitude for returning home and asserted she would play again.
“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,” she wrote in the post’s caption.
Griner’s last game was in 2021 against the Chicago Sky, where the Mercury lost 80-74.
Griner had a successful 2021 season, averaging 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. The Mercury also saw a successful 2021 regular season, winning about 17 games. August 2021 was the team’s best month, with them winning every game they played that month.
Griner’s basketball career was paused after being detained in Russia for possessing cannabis oil at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February 2022.
Russian judge Anna Sotnikova sentenced the basketball player to nine years in August. After months of negotiation, a prison swap was arranged.
The Biden administration announced Griner’s release in December. Griner was spotted in public a month later, smiling with her wife, Cherelle.
The Mercury’s first season-opening game will happen on May 19 at 10 p.m. against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Crypto.com Arena. Two days after that game, they play against the Sky at 4 p.m. at the Footprint Center.