Fans in red, white and blue from the USA draped a simple white banner with hand-written black lettering above the railing in the front row of Bercy Arena. Behind the basket near the USA bench, there was no way the players would miss it.
It said “Griner”. “#15”
This is his first appearance on the international stage since being detained in Russia for about 10 months. Brittany Griner She has received support from French fans and is absorbing the experience and support with gratitude and joy.
“There was a time when I didn’t know if I would ever be able to play USA Basketball again, or basketball in general,” Greiner said after the U.S. quarterfinal win over Nigeria on Wednesday. “And now I think it means more to me.”
Greiner, known to teammates and fans as BG, had five points and three rebounds in Friday’s 85-64 semifinal rout of Australia at Bercy Arena. She had 11 points and three rebounds in the win over Nigeria.
The two-time WNBA scoring champion plays a secondary role on a team that has 67 WNBA All-Star appearances, but Griner still makes an impact. Her first touch after coming on as a substitute in Wednesday’s quarterfinals was a powerful block.
“Bringing Brittany Griner off the bench? I mean, that’s another level,” Germany head coach Lisa Thomaidis said after the U.S. won 87-68 in pool play. “There’s a reason they’re the best team in the world.”
The United States is one step closer to an unprecedented eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal. If it completes this feat, it will become a record for a traditional team sport at the Olympics, surpassing the seven consecutive gold medals won by the U.S. men’s basketball team from 1936 to 1968. The U.S. women’s team has not lost an Olympic game since 1992, and has won 60 consecutive games.
A 10-time WNBA All-Star, Greiner has already won two gold medals. But she said returning to the Olympic stage feels different this time. After pleading guilty to smuggling charges when Russian customs authorities found less than a gram of hash oil in her luggage, Greiner was sentenced to nine years in prison.. her worked in prison She cut up military uniform fabric, slept in a bed that was much too small for her 6-foot-9 frame, and cut off her signature dreadlocks, which had been frozen in the harsh winter cold.
Read more: Full Report: US Offers Russia a Deal to Release Brittany Griner
By comparison, even the most difficult exercises became a joy for Greiner.
“All those little moments are so important,” Greiner said. “Getting up and going to practice, even when you don’t feel like practicing, having the opportunity to practice, because we overlook that. That’s the opportunity we have, and I cherish every moment I can have right now.”
WNBA players step up to promote Griner’s returnWe tweet about her every day, wear shirts with her face on them, play on courts with her number and initials on them. She returned to the league on a welcome tour after an emotional season. Fighting for Olympic gold with the national team “isn’t the same without her,” Breanna Stewart said.
“She’s an amazing person,” said Diana Taurasi, who played with Griner, a former Baylor star who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Phoenix Mercury in 2013. “We know she’s a force on the court, a threat, a dominant force, but I always say she’s the one with the biggest heart.”
In her first year and a half in the WNBA, Griner averaged 17.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for the Phoenix Mercury, and she was just as tough on the court as she was off it. Before leaving the court against Nigeria, Griner signed a banner that fans had hung with her name on it. She rolled it up, threw it back to the front row of fans, and smiled and pointed it at them. She jokingly tried to walk through the media mix area after the game with her face half-covered, as if the media couldn’t see her towering figure.
Already an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and co-host of an annual shoe drive with the Mercury, Griner’s off-court influence has only grown since she returned. She’s worked with Bring Our Families Home to represent Americans wrongfully detained overseas, and less than two years after she set foot on U.S. soil at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, she celebrated similar homecoming stories for four other U.S. citizens and residents, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan. He was released in a prisoner exchange last week..
“I’m really happy for my family right now,” Greiner told reporters Thursday.
Although Griner has played every WNBA offseason since 2015 for UMMC Yekaterinburg, one of Russia’s top teams, she has vowed never to play professionally overseas again, unless it’s for the U.S. National Team. Griner said she was 33 and that stage of her career was probably over anyway.
Now it’s time for her family to grow.
Read more: Why Brittney Griner Was in Russia and What It Says About American Women’s Sports
Greiner’s wife, Cherelle, gave birth to their son, Bash, on July 8, just days before Greiner left for the Olympics. Greiner said that even though Bash can’t compete at the Olympics at this age, he suddenly feels more pressure because of the newfound attention. She joked that when he grows up and realizes that Greiner left him home for Paris at the age of 3 weeks, he might be upset.
But she’ll make it worth it.
“Hopefully,” Griner said with a smile. “We can get this gold and put it next to it.”
This story was originally published on: The Los Angeles Times.
