Brittney Griner Signs Contract With Phoenix Mercury, Returns To Basketball Court After 10-Month Russian Nightmare

After a grueling 10 months in a Russian prison and the dramatic prisoner exchange that brought her home this past December, WNBA star Brittney Griner will return to the court with her team the Phoenix Mercury, which drafted her first overall in 2013 for a 10th season. The website "Her Hoops Stats" first reported Griner's signing.

The 6-foot-9 center last played for the Mercury in 2021, which was one of the best years of her career as she averaged 20.5 points, and helped her team reach the WNBA Finals. 

Griner’s new one-year contract will pay her $165,100 – far below the purported $1 million she was earning in Russia where she played during the WNBA off-season for seven years. That ended a year ago, just one week before Russia invaded Ukraine and Griner was detained at a Moscow airport for possessing less than a gram of cannabis oil.

Since her return to the US after being exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, Griner has kept a low profile. The first time she was seen in public was at a Martin Luther King Jr. event in Phoenix, where she lives, then later at the Phoenix Open followed the next day at the Super Bowl.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist (2016, 2020) did not attend the USA Basketball training camp earlier this month, though the organization made it clear she could take all the time she needed to decide if and when she wanted to play on Team USA.

Once it became clear that she was getting back onto the basketball court sooner rather than later, the WNBA said it would address the issue of providing Griner with special travel accommodations, such as charter flights as a security precaution.

"We are very cognizant of BG's unique situation," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told AP earlier this month. "We've been planning and we've been thinking it through with security experts, BG's side, our side. We'll find the right time to comment on it when she signs with a team."

Photo by Keeton Gale on Shutterstock