Brittney Griner makes emotional and productive WNBA comeback / News - Basketnews.com

Brittney Griner tallied 18 points, six rebounds, and four blocked shots in her first WNBA regular-season game since her imprisonment in Russia.

Credit: AP Photo/Ashley Landis Credit AP Photo/Ashley Landis

Brittney Griner made an emotional return to women's basketball on Friday, May 19, playing her first competitive game in nearly two years following her incarceration in Russia.

Griner, who was released by Russia as part of a prisoner swap last year, made her first appearance in a WNBA game in 579 days as the Phoenix Mercury faced the Los Angeles Sparks in a season opener in California.

US Vice President Kamala Harris was among the well-wishers at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles as the WNBA superstar finally returned to action. WNBA players union chief and Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike thanked Harris and the Joe Biden administration for helping to secure Griner's release.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist made an instant impression on her return, winning the tip-off and scoring four points as the Mercury jumped into an early 7-0 lead.

"It felt good," Griner said in an on-court interview at the end of the first quarter. "It felt really good. It felt like the last time I played." Griner eventually finished with 18 points and six rebounds but could not prevent Phoenix from slumping to a comprehensive 94-71 loss.

Celebrities at courtside on Friday included tennis legend Billie Jean King, Los Angeles Lakers icons Earvin Magic Johnson, Pau Gasol, Byron Scott, and current Lakers head coach Darvin Ham.

Fans who arrived early at the Crypto.com arena wore t-shirts with Griner's name and number on them. Greiner stopped to photobomb a group of young girls posing courtside before the game.

Griner, 32, a WNBA champion and LGBTQ trailblazer, was arrested on drug charges at a Moscow airport in February 2022 against a backdrop of soaring tensions over Ukraine. At the time of her arrest, Griner had been playing for a professional team in Russia, as a number of WNBA players do in the off-season.

She was accused of possessing vape cartridges with a small quantity of cannabis oil and sentenced in August to nine years in prison. She pleaded guilty to the charges but said she did not intend to break the law or use the banned substance in Russia.

Griner was eventually released as part of a deal that saw her swapped for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the 'Merchant of Death', in December.

Given everything that happened off the court, it’s easy to forget that Griner had arguably her best season in 2021. She averaged 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and nearly two blocks per game, finishing second in MVP voting. She was the main reason Mercury made it to the WNBA Finals before losing to Chicago Sky.

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