There have been plenty of high and low moments throughout Brittney Griner’s extended basketball career. Here are ten things to know about Griner.
1. Domination at Baylor
Griner burst on the scene at Baylor as the freshman dunking sensation, but became so much more than that for the Lady Bears’ program. Griner finished four seasons at Baylor with 3,283 career points, 1,305 rebounds, 748 blocks and shot 57% from the floor. She led Baylor to a perfect 40-0 record in 2012 which culminated in an NCAA championship. During her time in Waco, Baylor had a record of 135-15.
2. In-game altercations
Griner’s freshman season at Baylor was full of memorable games and highlights as the 19-year-old instantly became one of the most dominant players at the college level.
But one of the most memorable moments from her freshman year was one of the lowlights of her basketball career.
During a loss to Texas Tech, Griner threw a punch at the Red Raiders’ Jordan Barncastle and broke her nose. Griner was suspended two games for the incident. The NCAA suspended her one game and then-Baylor coach Kim Mulkey levied an additional game suspension, saying she was “very disappointed” by the incident.
“I don’t believe this incident should define Brittney Griner — either as a person or as a player,” Mulkey said. “Anyone who has been around her knows that she’s a great kid... I believe she will learn from this mistake and will become a better person moving forward.”
While Griner throughout her career hasn’t had anything that reached the level of her punch at 19 years old, she has been involved in some other on-court altercations in her career.
Most notably, she was ejected for pushing Chicago’s Cappie Pondexter’s face with her hand in 2016. She also instigated a brawl between the Mercury and Wings in 2019, charging after Dallas forward Kristine Anigwe and throwing punches.
3. WNBA, Olympic success
Coming out of Baylor in 2013, Griner was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft. Now she’s about to start her 10th WNBA season this summer. If year 10 is anything like the first nine, it’ll be another big year for Griner.
She boasts career averages of 17.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. She’s been named to the All-WNBA team five times.
Alongside Diana Taurasi, Griner led the Phoenix Mercury to a WNBA title in 2014. She translated that success with the women’s Olympic team in 2016 and 2020, winning two gold medals in Rio and Tokyo, respectively.
4. Criticisms of Baylor, Mulkey
While Griner made a name for herself at Baylor, she made it known in her memoir, In My Skin, that her time in Waco wasn’t all positive.
In her book, Griner details her fallout with coach Mulkey and the conflicts that arose between her and the university. Here are a couple of passages below.
“I would love to be an ambassador for Baylor, to show my school pride, but it’s hard to do that — it’s hard to stand up and say, ‘Baylor is the best!’ - when the administration has a written policy against homosexuality. I’ve spent too much of my life being made to feel like there’s something wrong with me. And not matter how much support I felt as a basketball player at Baylor, it still doesn’t erase all the pain I felt there...
“Cracks existed beneath the surface. And the game against Louisville, with the pressure cranked up, blew those cracks wide open... I didn’t deliver the way I usually did, and Kim got outcoached. We both underperformed. We had created something magical for almost four years, and that night we watched, almost helplessly at times, as it melted away. We were left staring at all our warts and flaws, all the things about each other that drove us crazy. And we didn’t have a national championship, the piece of shiny jewelry, to distract us from that reality.’
The tension between Griner and Baylor increased tenfold after Sports Illustrated ran an article citing Griner saying that Mulkey told her to keep her sexuality quiet so Baylor’s recruiting wouldn’t be hurt from any potential public backlash.
5. Domestic violence dispute
In 2015, Griner married a fellow WNBA player, forward Glory Johnson, who would eventually play for the Dallas Wings. Before the marriage, the couple was arrested on April 22, 2015 for a domestic violence dispute that resulted in seven-game suspensions for each.
The league released a lengthy statement on the matter when announcing the suspensions.
“Brittney and Glory were involved in a physical altercation with each other at their home. It began when Glory pushed Brittney in the shoulder and Brittney pushed Glory in the back of the neck,” the league said in its statement. “The confrontation escalated to include wrestling, punches, and the throwing and swinging of various objects. Brittney received a bite wound on her finger and scratches on her wrist, and Glory received a scratch above her lip and was diagnosed with a concussion...
“With consideration of all the facts and circumstances of this matter, we are suspending Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson each without pay for a period of seven regular-season games. Brittney and Glory’s conduct is detrimental to the best interests of the WNBA and violates applicable law. We also understand that people make mistakes, and that education and training are as important as imposing discipline. Accordingly, each player will be required to attend individual counseling sessions with a counselor satisfactory to the WNBA. If either player fails to comply with this condition or any of the conditions imposed by the court, we reserve the right to revisit this matter.”
6. Spent time in Russian prison
Griner was convicted Aug. 8, 2022, in Russia of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison following a politically charged trial that came amid soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden denounced the verdict and sentence as “unacceptable.”
Russia freed Griner in March in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange, with the U.S. releasing notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, American officials said. The swap, at a time of heightened tensions over Ukraine, achieved a top goal for President Joe Biden, but carried a heavy price — and left behind an American jailed for nearly four years in Russia.
The deal, the second such exchange in eight months with Russia, procured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad. Griner’s monthslong imprisonment on drug charges brought unprecedented attention to the population of wrongful detainees.
7. Dunks
Griner is also the most prolific dunker in the WNBA. The 6-9, 205-pound center has 12 career dunks.
Brittney Griner dunk in the #WNBAFinals 😤
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 14, 2021
(via @PhoenixMercury)pic.twitter.com/f1sxQeVToH
The rest of the league entered the 2021 season with a total of three regular-season dunks through 23 seasons, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Griner and Candace Parker are the only two WNBA players to dunk multiple times.
Griner became the second woman to ever dunk twice in a single women’s college basketball game, and the seventh woman to dunk in a game at all.
8. Scoring champ
Offensively Griner is extremely proficient. Griner averages 17.7 points per game for her career and has won two WNBA scoring titles. Griner has averaged 20 or more points per game in four of her last five seasons.
Her scoring is efficient, shooting 56% on field goals and 80.4% on free throws in her WNBA career.
9. Trail Blazer
Griner was the first openly gay athlete signed by Nike in 2013. “People tell me I’m going to break the barrier and trailblaze,” Griner told People Magazine in a 2019 interview.
“I just kind of look at it like, I’m just trying to help out, I’m just trying to make it not as tough for the next generation.”
10. Elite defender
Defense has always been a calling card for Griner back to her time at Baylor. Griner is a two-time WNBA defensive player of the year. The Mercury star averages 2.8 blocks per game in her career and has four seasons in which she averaged at least three blocks per game. Griner has been named to the WNBA All-Defensive team six times in nine seasons.
In college Griner averaged 5.1 blocks per game, including 6.4 per game as a freshman. During her junior season, Griner averaged 5 blocks per game, blocking more shots by herself than any other women’s team in Division 1.
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