Brittney Griners homecoming with Phoenix Mercury showcases fan affection and her skills

May 2024 · 6 minute read

PHOENIX — Brittney Griner likes to say it’s hard to get things past her.

The most literal embodiment of that is on the court. Her size deters most opponents from even challenging her, and when they do dare to test her in the paint, they often find their shots rejected into oblivion. Internally, she’s usually good at keeping her emotions under control, keeping a steely facade on the floor and letting her game do the talking. Griner also isn’t easily surprised, like when Vice President Kamala Harris made an appearance in Los Angeles for Griner’s first regular-season game this season Friday as the Phoenix superstar caught wind of the visit ahead of time.

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The trauma of the last year has put some cracks into her facade, however, and the celebration of her return sometimes causes her emotions to bubble over. During the pregame ceremony at Footprint Center on Sunday before Griner’s first game in front of her home fans since being released from imprisonment in Russia, the Mercury surprised her with an entrance to Skylar Grey’s “Coming Home,” and Griner admitted it got a little dusty while jokingly chiding team president Vince Kozar for “setting her up” with that song.

Kozar told The Athletic it was a team effort to keep Griner in the dark regarding the specifics of her introduction, and that there was no other song in consideration for that specific moment. It had to be this one.

I’m coming home, I’m coming homeTell the world that I’m coming
I’m back where I belong, I never felt so strong

Griner took those words to heart, echoing Diddy’s verse late in the game as she really started to feel herself. She had nine points in the first half and then added another 11 in the third quarter. At the end of the quarter, second-year guard Sug Sutton found a trailing Griner for a 3-pointer, just the seventh made triple of Griner’s career. After she sank the shot, pulling Phoenix to within five points, she egged on the crowd and yelled, “I’m back,” causing an impromptu stoppage even as 39 seconds were left to play in the quarter. She finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in the Mercury’s 75-69 loss to the Chicago Sky.

We’ve got you back BG, always. pic.twitter.com/vj33YGGkxK

— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) May 22, 2023


Maybe Griner has found reasons for discretion at other moments in her career, but not this one. Despite her postgame insistence that she tries not to get caught up in the narratives about her return to the court, this was an emotion Griner couldn’t push to the side.

“The moment was very special,” Griner said. “It took me back to my last season playing. It just felt really good, honestly; it was a crazy moment. Man, it got me saying all that.”

Part of the beauty of that play was that Griner was celebrated for being a basketball player. She’ll welcome the love that comes from fans and players who are happy to see her on a human level. But Griner also wants to get back to her craft. Draining a jumper and keeping her team alive in a game where it was trailing by 11 are the moments she wants to return to on a more regular basis.

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There will be the requisite pomp and circumstance as Griner completes her reunion tour around the league, following her December release back to the United States. She’ll attract celebrities to her games. Friday’s game against the Sparks didn’t just feature a visit from the vice president, but also former Team USA coach Dawn Staley, Billie Jean King, commissioner Cathy Engelbert and a long list of Los Angeles Lakers legends including Michael Cooper, Pau Gasol and Magic Johnson. Sunday brought Olympic champion Simone Manuel, Jalen Rose and members of the Phoenix Suns. New Mercury and Suns owner Mat Ishbia also took in the game alongside Griner’s wife, Cherelle.

Players and coaches alike also want to reconnect with Griner, as does she. She gave Sparks coach Curt Miller condolences on the passing of his mom last summer when the two saw each other at Crypto.com Arena. Griner popped in on rookie Zia Cooke’s postgame availability, and having met Cooke for the first time in a preseason game one week prior, told her to “keep killing it, just not against us next time.” Griner gave a bear hug to Sky head coach James Wade (a former assistant for UMMC Ekaterinburg, the Russian team for which she played), and Wade noted pregame that he had to stop himself from thinking about the reunion because it would be too distracting.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

‘You’re not forgotten’: The letters that sustained Brittney Griner in prison

Eventually, the outside noise will die, and Griner will get to be a basketball player again. She’ll get to post up, collect entry passes and turn and face over the best centers in the league. She’ll develop chemistry with her new teammates so that they aren’t passing the ball over her head in the half court. She’ll keep blocking shots that seem like certain finishes, such as when Kahleah Copper thought she had beaten the two-time Olympian with a reverse, only to find her attempt swatted.

Two games in, Griner already has blown past her de facto minutes limit that restricted her to five-minute stints during each quarter. Griner played 17 minutes in the second half Sunday as the Mercury chased their first win, ultimately falling short.

“I don’t consider myself a dummy,” Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said postgame, “but she was scoring every time she touched the ball. So (I) just wanted to get her more touches. She was extremely productive, and we needed her in because she was doing so many things for us. She battled through her fatigue tonight, and I think every game that we have, you’re going to see a little bit more from her.”

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Griner says she wants to be back to herself regarding production and conditioning by the All-Star break in mid-July. Playing 40 minutes isn’t something she ever considered volunteering for, but it’s become a new goal as she regains her wind and stability on the court.

But she needs this. Basketball has become healing for her, even in losses. The ability to be angry when she and her team don’t perform well makes her feel more like herself.

“It doesn’t matter how long it’s been away from the game, you don’t ever lose that,” Griner said. “I still have that burn; I still have that grit.

“We got the first game done, we got this one done, we didn’t get the outcome we wanted. But I definitely feel like, finally, we can get to basketball.”

(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

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