Brittney Griner: ‘I intend to play basketball for the WNBA this season’

WNBA star Brittney Griner has broken her silence. The Phoenix Mercury player posted a statement to Instagram early Friday full of thankfulness and gratitude for being home.

She also made it clear she plans to return immediately to the WNBA. These were her first words since being released from a Russian prison last week.

Griner’s Instagram post read in part:

“It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn. I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.”

President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too. I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you.

I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon.

Griner has been staying at Brooke Army Medical Center’s reintegration facility since arriving in the U.S. The Houston native was freed last week in a prisoner swap with the U.S. releasing Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. She had been detained in Russia for 294 days since her arrest in February on drug charges.

Griner was drafted No. 1 overall out of Baylor University in 2013 and helped the team to a national championship. She has also won multiple Gold Medals for Team USA women’s basketball.

This story was republished with permission from Texas Metro News.