Brittney Griner Embraces VP Harris At WNBA Season Kick Off, 5 Months After Russian Prison Ordeal

The 2023 WNBA season is officially underway. The most-watched moment Friday night was, you guessed it, Brittney Griner walking onto the court at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles where she received a standing ovation from the road crowd as she was introduced.

Griner, who played in her first WNBA game in nearly 600 days including 10 months in a Russian prison, made an emotional return to the court, which included a pre-game hug from Vice President Kamala Harris.

VP Harris met with the players from both teams, the Mercury and the LA Sparks, before the game and thanked them for their support while Griner was in Russian custody after being arrested at a Moscow airport with cannabis oil in her bag in February 2022 - one week before Russia invaded Ukraine. Griner, who was in her 7th year of playing for a Russian basketball team, was released in December as part of a prisoner exchange for Vladimir Putin's pal and notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout.  

“I know that was rough and that was so difficult for you,” Harris said in the locker room prior to Friday night's tipoff. “A team is a team, that’s family.”

LA Sparks forward and WNBA players’ union president Nneka Ogwumike thanked Harris and the Biden administration for securing Griner’s release.

Griner, the 6-foot-nine center who turned 32 in a Moscow prison, led the way for her team against the LA Sparks, scoring 18 points on 7-of-9 shots from the field, with six rebounds and four blocks in 25 minutes of play, though her team lost to the Sparks 94-71.

The eight-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist told reporters after Friday's game that she was not happy with her performance, calling it “not good enough.”

“It was nice to be back on the court in a real game and everything,” Griner said. “The love from the fans when I came out was amazing … I definitely feel it. I felt it when I was over there still.”

When asked by reporters how her Russia ordeal changed her as a person, Griner said she now appreciated everything more.

“You know all the little small moments that I just used to just say ‘oh, I’m so tired, oh I don’t want to go to practice today or this that’ I think that has changed honestly,” she said. “Just appreciating everything because tomorrow is not guaranteed.”