Brittney Griner

Brittney Yevette Griner (born October 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's national basketball team and a six-time WNBA All-Star.

She was additionally named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023.

Griner was born October 18, 1990, in Houston, the daughter of Raymond Griner, a Harris County deputy sheriff and two-tour Vietnam War veteran, and Sandra Griner.

She has three older siblings, D, Shkera and Pier.

Griner attended Nimitz High School in Houston.

In addition to lettering in basketball throughout high school, she played varsity volleyball as a freshman.

Starting in her sophomore year, Griner practiced with the boys' basketball team, and worked with a Nimitz football coach to develop her leg strength in preparation for learning to dunk.

During her junior season, a YouTube video featuring her dunks was watched more than 6.6 million times, leading to a meeting with Shaquille O'Neal.

During her senior year, Griner led the Nimitz Cougars to the Texas 5A girls basketball state championship game, where Nimitz lost 52–43 to Mansfield Summit High School.

Griner dunked 52 times in 32 games as a senior, setting a single-game record of seven dunks against Aldine High School.

On November 11, 2008, she recorded 25 blocks in a game against Houston Alief Hastings, the most ever recorded by a female in a high school game in the U.S. In her 2008–09 season, she recorded 318 blocks, a single-season record.

In 2009, Griner was named the nation's No. 1 high school women's basketball player by Rivals.com.

She was selected to the 2009 All-American basketball team.

She played college basketball for the Baylor Lady Bears in Waco, Texas.

Houston mayor Bill White declared May 7, 2009, Brittney Griner Day.

Griner was named a WBCA All-American and participated in the 2009 WBCA High School All-America Game, leading the team by scoring 20 points and collecting 9 rebounds.

Griner played college basketball at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

As a freshman, Griner's 223 blocked shots set the all-time single-season record, establishing her as one of the greatest shot blockers in women's basketball history.

On December 16, 2009, Griner recorded Baylor's first triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and Big 12 Conference record 11 blocked shots.

In January 2010, she became only the seventh player to dunk during a women's college basketball game, and only the second woman to dunk twice in a single college game, making the second and third dunks of her college career in a lopsided 99–18 victory against Texas State University.

On March 3, 2010, Griner and Texas Tech player Jordan Barncastle were battling for position near the lane.

As a foul was being called on Barncastle, Griner took two steps forward and threw a right-handed roundhouse punch which broke Barncastle's nose.

She had a breakout senior year in 2012, as the three-time All-American was named the AP Player of the Year, the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, led Baylor in winning the National Championship, and won the Best Female Athlete ESPY Award.

Griner is also the only NCAA basketball player to both score 2,000 points and block 500 shots.

Professionally, Griner was selected as the first overall pick in 2013 WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury, with whom she won the 2014 WNBA championship.

Standing 6 ft tall, Griner wears a men's U.S. size 17 shoe and has an arm span of 87.5 in.

She is also a two-time FIBA Women's World Cup winner with Team USA (2014 and 2018).

On February 17, 2022, Griner was detained and arrested on smuggling charges by Russian customs officials after cartridges containing less than a gram of medically prescribed hash oil, illegal in Russia, were found in her luggage.

She had been playing basketball with the Russian Premier League during the WNBA off-season.

Her trial began on July 1, and she pleaded guilty to the charges.

On August 4, she was sentenced to nine years in prison.

In November 2022, Griner was transferred to the Russian penal colony IK-2.

US officials stated that she was "wrongfully detained".

On December 8, Griner was released in a prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

On May 19, 2023, she made her reappearance in the WNBA, and she received a standing ovation from the audience.

A number of sport celebrities and politicians also attended the game to support her and celebrate her release.

Griner led the U.S. national women's basketball team to victory at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

In 2020, Griner protested "The Star-Spangled Banner" and stated she would not be on the court while the national anthem was played during game openers.

Griner was named to the national team for the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan), where she won her second gold medal.