Cheered on by Kamala Harris
Griner celebrates WNBA comeback after detention in Russia
05/20/2023, 1:09 p.m
Olympic champion Brittney Griner was jailed in Russia for 10 months. Now she is playing her first basketball game at the season opener of the WNBA – and is loudly celebrated by the fans of both teams. Kamala Harris is also rooting for it.
Cheered on and cheered on by US Vice President Kamala Harris, basketball superstar Brittney Griner celebrated her comeback in the women’s professional league WNBA on a “day of joy” after her return from Russian captivity. 579 days after her last WNBA appearance, the two-time Olympic champion for Phoenix Mercury was back on the floor in a league game at the start of the season with the Los Angeles Sparks.
“It felt good, really good,” said Griner on the hall microphone during a break in the game, adding with a wink: “Like the last time I played.” The 32-year-old, who had been arrested in Russia for violating drug laws, had already flown to the hearts of the audience. When Griner immediately won the tip-off for Phoenix, Harris and the fans in the stands gave enthusiastic applause, showing solidarity and empathy for Griner.
After her four points to give the guests a temporary 7-0 lead, the two-time world champion was denied a victory to crown her comeback: Despite a total of 18 Griner points, Phoenix lost 71:94. Against the background of Harris’s visit to the Mercury dressing room before the start of the game, however, the result was a minor matter. “I know your support for Brittney means a lot to you. It was hard times, but a team is a team – and sticks together like a family,” said Deputy US President Joe Biden in the locker room.
“America did this out of respect for them”
Guest coach Vanessa Nygaard Griner commented highly emotionally on his return: “It’s a day of joy and this season will be a year of joy, love and happiness for us. Every spectator of this game is a witness to a miracle.”
Not least because of the Biden administration’s successful efforts to get Griner released, Nygaard also emphasized the political dimension of the case: “We brought back a woman, a black and homosexual woman from a Russian prison, and America did it out of respect for her.”
Unlike Griner, the German national player Nyara Sabally did not play for New York Liberty at the 64:80 at the Washington Mystics at the start of the season. The 23-year-old sister of Dallas Wings international Satou Sabally’s next opportunity to make her WNBA debut comes Sunday for her home-season debut against Indiana Fever.