BG: A Postscript

After nearly 10 months of being wrongfully detained in Russia for possession of a vape pen, WNBA icon Brittney Griner has been returned to the United States. Russian prisons are completely different from American prisons. The conditions, as described by the U.S. State Department, are “often harsh and life-threatening.” With that being said, Griner’s reintegration back into her American life will be more than just her landing on American grounds. 

Over the weekend, according to news reported by ESPN, Griner hit the court for the very first time – wearing a pair of black Chuck Taylor shoes, Phoenix Suns shorts, and a Title IX shirt. Her first move was a dunk! “I think it’s fair to say that her picking up a ball voluntarily and the first thing being a dunk … it was really encouraging,” said her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas. “She was really excited.” With regards to whether or not Griner will make a return back to the WNBA, I think it’s definitely a matter of time and progress. There’s no word yet on whether or not Griner will return professionally. “If she wants to play, it will be for her to share,” Colas told ESPN’s T.J. Quinn. It will take a lot of mental healing before being able to train her body again…unless Griner uses her passion for basketball as a coping mechanism (which I think she will). 

Griner has yet to release a statement of her own to the public, but I’m super excited to hear her story and see the progress she makes throughout her life, regardless if she decides to return to the basketball court or not. And after having read her book, “In My Skin: My Life on and Off the Basketball Court,” I can only imagine and look forward to another book, series, or even a documentary published by her that entails her life’s journey in Russia and as she reintegrates back into American life.