LOS ANGELES, USA: Brittney Griner stood for the national anthem before her first regular-season WNBA game since being jailed in Russia.
Griner was outspoken for social justice in 2020 and didn’t take the court during the pregame anthem. But nearly a year behind bars in Russia changed her.
“I was literally in a cage and could not stand the way I wanted to,” she said. “Just being able to hear my national anthem and see my flag, I definitely want to stand.”
Griner had 18 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots Friday night for the Phoenix Mercury in a 94-71 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks.
“Not good enough, didn’t get the dub,” said Griner, who nevertheless couldn’t be down in defeat.
“I appreciate everything a little bit more, all of the small moments, like, ‘Oh, I’m so tired I don’t want to go to practice today,’ that has changed, honestly,” she said. “Tomorrow is not guaranteed, you don’t know what it’s going to look like. I feel a lot older somehow, too.”
The 32-year-old center’s immediate goal is to play an entire game by the All-Star break in mid-July. She played 25 minutes Friday.
“I hope to be exactly where I want to be,” Griner said. “Just getting back to how I was before all this happened.”
Griner made an immediate impact against the Sparks. She fired a pass to Moriah Jefferson, who hit a 3-pointer for Phoenix’s first basket. Griner grabbed a couple of rebounds and scored twice in helping the Mercury to an early lead.
“How good did she just look? Unbelievable,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters at halftime.
For the first time since last season, Phoenix coach Vanessa Nygaard opened her pregame comments without announcing how many days Griner had been jailed. Griner has been free since December when she was part of a high-profile prisoner swap.
“Until the day we got the news in the morning that she was on her way home, no one thought that it was going to happen,” Nygaard said. “We did our jobs probably with less joy than professional athletes do. It was heavy every day.”
Not anymore.
“Today is a day of joy,” Nygaard said. “An amazing, amazing thing has happened.”
Griner and the Mercury were greeted with a standing ovation when they came on court for pregame warmups, although the biggest cheers were reserved for the Sparks.
“Just taking it in but staying focused because at the end of the day I’m at work,” Griner said. “Can’t get caught up in the moment. Kind of feel it, but put it to the side and feel it a little bit later.”
Griner hugged Vice President Kamala Harris and first gentleman Doug Emhoff as they left the court after Harris was presented with a No. 49 Sparks jersey. Earlier, Harris posed for photos in the Mercury’s locker room.
“It was nice to be able to see her face-to-face and thank her for everything,” Griner said.
She patted her heart and applauded in return during a brief video welcoming her back to the WNBA.
“It was nice to be back on the court for a real game,” she said. “The love from the fans when we came out was amazing. I definitely feel it.”
Griner scored 10 points in 17 minutes in an exhibition loss to the Sparks last week. It was her first game action since she was arrested at a Moscow airport in February 2022 after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil.
“We brought back this Black, gay woman from a Russian jail and America did that because they valued her and she’s a female athlete and they valued her,” Nygaard said.
“Just to be part of a group that values people at that level, it makes me very proud to be an American. Maybe there’s other people that that doesn’t make them proud, but for me, I see BG and I see hope and I see the future and I have young children and it makes me really hopeful about our country,” the coach said.
Fans arriving early to Crypto.com Arena wore T-shirts with Griner’s name and jersey number on them. The 6-foot-9 Griner stopped to photo-bomb a group of young girls posing courtside before the game.
Billie Jean King and wife Ilana Kloss, who are part-owners of the Sparks, were on hand for the opener, as was Magic Johnson, Pau Gasol, Byron Scott, Robert Horry, Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham and South Carolina women’s coach Dawn Staley.
Since her release, Griner has used her platform to advocate for other Americans being detained abroad. She was already an LGBTQ+ activist since publicly coming out in 2013.
“She stands for so many people, so many different kind of people who can be undervalued in our society,” Nygaard said. “She stands with pride and confidence and has never once has shied away from who she is.”
Griner announced in April that she is working with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign formed last year by the family members of American hostages and wrongful detainees held overseas. She said her team has been in contact with the family of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being detained in Russia on espionage charges.
“She’s an amazing person on and off the court,” Phoenix teammate Jefferson said. “I think her energy just inspires everybody every single day to show up and be the best version of themselves.”
‘A day of joy’: Brittney Griner makes WNBA season debut after being jailed in Russia
https://arab.news/vegvb
‘A day of joy’: Brittney Griner makes WNBA season debut after being jailed in Russia
- Griner was outspoken for social justice in 2020 and didn’t take the court during the pregame anthem
- But nearly a year behind bars in Russia changed her
New innings as women’s cricket set to take off in Saudi Arabia
- A landmark partnership has been announced between the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation and FairBreak, under which, it is proposed that a new professional women’s cricket tournament, the Women’s World T20 Challenge, will take place in Saudi Arabia
In my column of May 4, 2022, I highlighted a new women’s cricket tournament which took place in Dubai that month. It was entitled the SDG FairBreak Invitational 2022 Tournament and was sanctioned by the International Cricket Council. Six teams consisting of 90 players from 35 countries competed across 19 matches. The tournament, organized by Cricket Hong Kong, was scheduled to be held there, but the location had to be moved because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The players were a mixture of those from ICC full member and associate member countries. There was no auction of the players. Instead, an organizing committee invited players and then allocated them to one of six teams. This ensured that a balance between players from full and associate member countries was achieved. Over 25 countries were represented. Nine of the 11 full member national cricket boards were delighted to allow their players to take part. Only India and Afghanistan, for different reasons, did not allow their players to participate.
A vital ingredient of the tournament was the opportunity it provided for members of Associate countries to play against and alongside some of the world’s best female cricketers. It also enabled players from full member countries to gain an understanding of the challenges faced by associate players, as well as appreciate their skill sets. A second tournament took place in Hong Kong in 2023, and the event looked to be established in the global cricket calendar. A third tournament was planned for the US, but was delayed and then postponed, partly because of a clash with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Internal changes were also underway in FairBreak, which was founded in 2013 by former Australian women’s cricket captain Lisa Sthalekar and her manager, Shaun Martyn. They sought to champion the cause of gender equality in cricket at a time when women’s cricket was still underdeveloped. Indeed, cricket’s leading administrators did not endorse their concept of a Women’s International Cricket League. Their initiative survived through one-off events and tours, until the first invitational tournament in 2022.
In January 2024, Martyn stood down and Ramasamy Venkatesh, who had been involved since 2019, became managing director in September 2025. He is the co-founder and managing director of Gencor Pacific, a multinational healthcare company. Somehow, he finds time to stand as an ICC Development Panel umpire. He also found time to speak to me this week about the landmark partnership which has been announced between the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation and FairBreak. Under this, it is proposed that a new professional women’s cricket tournament, the Women’s World T20 Challenge, will take place in Saudi Arabia in 2026 and for the following four years.
The Gulf had been identified as a potential region by FairBreak. In early April this year, the opportunity arose to open discussions with representatives of the SACF. These advanced well during the ensuing months. The outcome is the promise of the Kingdom stepping onto the global stage of women’s cricket, hand in hand with an organization which has gender equality on a global scale at its core, using cricket as the vehicle.
Various approvals, including ICC sanction, will now be sought, after which an operational phase will begin. Venkatesh told me that this tournament will take place in one stadium, in one city in Saudi Arabia. The identity of the city has yet to be revealed as are the proposed dates. Cricket’s international calendar is already crowded. In 2026, the women’s T20 World Cup will be held in England and Wales in June, after which The Hundred will take place in August. Later in the year the Australian Women’s Big Bash will be played. This leaves September/October as the most promising window of opportunity.
At this stage, the format of the tournament is proposed to follow that of the FairBreak Invitational, with invited players allocated to the six teams, which have a balance of full member and associate country players. Maintaining this balance is dear to Venkatesh’s heart. He told me that in the inaugural tournament, associate nation players were reluctant to talk with those from full member nations. Previously, they had only seen them on television or, perhaps, as spectators at matches. They were in awe, but the ice had to be broken. It was the full member players who achieved that. Friendships have been continued and nurtured on social media to the point where the more experienced players help build the self-confidence of the associates if they at a low ebb with their performances.
It is also proposed to retain four salary bands. Players in Band A will earn $20,000, those in Band B, $15,000, Band C, $10,000 and Band D, $5,000. At this point, FairBreak will continue to own the six teams, with an option to partner with a corporate sponsor. Venkatesh emphasized that sponsorship is a vital way in which player remuneration can be increased, so that FairBreak’s core purpose of achieving equal pay can be pursued.
In the 2022 event in Dubai, one of the sponsors was the “Barmy Army.” What started out as a loose-knit group of supporters of the English cricket team has developed into a major sports brand which organizes tours and is involved in charity work. It is known for its noisy behavior, based on chants, songs, anthems, and its undying support for the English team irrespective of its performances. The Australian media coined the sobriquet in 1994/5 on yet another unsuccessful England tour of Australia. It will be interesting to see if the army’s sponsorship will reach into Saudi Arabia.
It is too early to know if the Board of Control for Cricket in India will allow Indian players to take part. Their participation would be a major boost for the tournament and for the associate players. Women’s cricket in Saudi Arabia has been extremely low-key activity, focusing mainly on tape ball and soft ball. However, the national team will play in the GCC Women’s T20I Championship in Oman between Dec. 12-19, 2025. They will play against the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. Their development is now moving out of the low-key zone, with next year’s Women’s World T20 Challenge on home soil primed to provide further stimulus to their ambitions.
Following the signing of the partnership with FairBreak, the SCAF President Prince Saud Bin Mishal Al-Saud said that “by bringing a global women’s tournament to Saudi Arabia, we are not only elevating the sport, but also opening new pathways for talent development, private sector participation and international development — fully aligned with our vision for the future of cricket and the ambitions of Vision 2030.” There can be little doubt that he is right. The Kingdom’s long-awaited entry into cricket’s global landscape has come about in a way that may have wrong-footed observers. Cleverly, it is tapping into the most changing part of that landscape, while addressing the domestic policy of women’s empowerment.
