In order to “focus on her mental health,” Brittney Griner will forego a forthcoming road trip with the Phoenix Mercury, the team said on Saturday. While the Mercury claimed it is still finalizing “a timeline for her return” to the floor, the WNBA star will miss at least two of the games her team is slated to play while traveling to Chicago and Indiana this week.
In order to concentrate on her mental health, Mercury Center Brittney Griner will not accompany the club on its upcoming two-game road trip to Chicago and Indiana (July 30-August 1). The Mercury team posted on social media on Saturday afternoon, “The Mercury fully supports Brittney and we will continue to collaborate on a timeline for her return.”
Griner, a former WNBA all-star and Olympic gold medalist, first joined the league earlier this year after being freed from Russian detention
Before she was released in a high-profile prisoner swap in December for an arms dealer previously imprisoned in the United States, the professional athlete had been held in Russian prisons for nearly 10 months on drug-related offenses.
In the months after she returned home, Griner re-signed a contract with the Phoenix Mercury, the team where she had previously spent years playing before being detained. When the Mercury met the Los Angeles Sparks in May, it was her first official game-time appearance this year. Griner participated in her first All-Star game upon her comeback about a month later.
After the All-Star game, Griner told the fans, “It meant everything to me,”. “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d be here today, but everyone has been writing, giving messages of love, and posting. Even now, I can still make out everything that everyone did. It meant a lot to me, it gave me hope, and it prevented me from giving up on anything, thus this league was essential in helping me.
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