As the Unrivaled season prepares to debut, Brittney Griner will be one of the WNBA players participating in the winter women’s basketball league started by fellow players Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.
According to ESPN, Griner is excited to return to playing basketball in the WNBA offseason after her harrowing experience in Russia, where she was detained in February 2022 after her arrest at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on drug charges. The Unrivaled Basketball League was started for someone like Griner, who had to play overseas in the offseason to make money while on break from the WNBA.
Griner was held in Russia for 10 months before a prison exchange brought her back to the States later that year in October.
The WNBA veteran is in Miami, ready to play for the Phantom BC team. This will be the first time since her arrest in Russia that she will play during the offseason after vowing not to play overseas again after her detainment in 2022.
“I feel like something was missing in my offseason; I was used to playing year-round,” Griner said. “I wanted to go back to working year-round. This is going to help me stay fresh, knocking all the dust off and being ready for when the [WNBA] comes back around.”
The opportunity allows her to play again while the WNBA preps for the upcoming season later in the year and make money playing a sport that she loves.
“[Unrivaled] is bringing something new to women’s basketball. They’re trying to give us a different look, a different feel. We can bring everybody together in one spot. They’re really pouring in a lot. Unrivaled is showing that you don’t need a lot of time to pull resources together to be able to put a good product out there.”
She also mentions that the chance to play will allow her to work on changing her approach to the game, trying to play differently than we are used to seeing her play in the WNBA.
“It’s going to challenge me to play a little bit differently,” Griner said. “I’ve been trying to evolve my game anyway, not just playing on the low post always. Stretching out, playing on the wing a little bit. I’m looking forward to showcasing that and being challenged as well. And then I’ll be in the best shape ever coming back [to Phoenix].”
RELATED CONTENT: Gen Z’s Mental Health Struggles Create Catch-22 In Employment, UK Study Reveals
