Brittney Griner

Griner grew up in the suburbs of Houston, the youngest of four children born to Sandra and Raymond Griner. Her father served in Vietnam and worked as a police officer and sheriff. As a tall, athletic child, she often dealt with bullying over her size and style. The experience inspired her later work with anti-bullying programs.

She came out publicly as a lesbian in 2013. The following year, Nike signed her to an endorsement contract, making her the first openly gay athlete on the company's roster. In May 2015, Griner married WNBA player Glory Johnson. The couple had twins before divorcing in 2016. In 2019, she married Cherelle Watson, a teacher who advocated publicly for Griner during her imprisonment overseas.

Griner played volleyball and soccer in middle school before picking up basketball as a freshman at Nimitz High School in Houston. Her development was rapid. She practiced against the boys' team and drew national attention when videos of her dunking went viral during her junior year. In a 2008 game, she set a national high school record by blocking 25 shots in a single contest.

She entered Baylor University in 2009 on a basketball scholarship. Her impact was immediate. During her junior season in 2011-12, she led the Lady Bears to a 40-0 record and the NCAA Division I championship, winning the Naismith Trophy, the Wooden Award, and AP Player of the Year. She repeated as national player of the year as a senior in 2013. By the end of her college career, Griner had accumulated 3,283 points, 18 dunks, and an NCAA-record 748 blocked shots. She completed her degree in education at Baylor in 2019.

The Phoenix Mercury chose Griner with the first overall pick in the 2013 WNBA draft. In her professional debut in May 2013, she dunked twice, a first in league history. She teamed with Diana Taurasi to win the 2014 WNBA championship, setting a single-season record with 129 blocked shots and winning the first of two consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Griner led the WNBA in scoring in 2017 and 2019 while regularly topping the league in blocked shots. Like many WNBA players, she competed overseas during the American offseason to supplement her income. Joining Russian club UMMC Ekaterinburg in 2015, she helped the team win EuroLeague titles in 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2021. With the United States national team, she won gold medals at the 2016 Rio Games, the 2020 Tokyo Games, and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

On February 17, 2022, Russian customs officials detained Griner at a Moscow airport after finding vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Russia invaded Ukraine a week later. The geopolitical crisis complicated diplomatic efforts to secure her release. Griner testified that she used prescribed medical cannabis and had packed the cartridges by mistake.

A Russian court sentenced her to nine years in a penal colony in August 2022. Conditions were harsh. She endured freezing weather and worked long shifts sewing uniforms. On December 8, 2022, the United States government secured her release through a prisoner swap for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Griner recounted the experience in her 2024 memoir Coming Home, written with Michelle Burford.