Phoenix Mercury
Brittney Griner’s Tearful WNBA Teammates Play On After Her Conviction
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Phoenix Mercury Coach Vanessa Nygaard and her coaching staff stood in the empty Mohegan Sun arena on Thursday, puzzled. The Mercury were set to take on the Connecticut Sun at 7 p.m., and her players were supposed to be on the court going through their normal pregame shoot-around, but no one showed […]
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Glimpses of Brittney Griner Show a Complicated Path to Release
One hundred forty-one days. That is how long Brittney Griner has been behind bars in Russia. That is how long she has been stuck in the middle of a high-stakes staredown between the United States and Russia at exactly the wrong time, as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia continues his horrendous invasion of Ukraine […]
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Brittney Griner’s Supporters Have a New Strategy to Free Her: Make Noise
Her face is on hoodies. Her name is in hashtags. Her “B.G.” and number are on fans’ jerseys and W.N.B.A. courts. As the Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner waits in Russia, detained since Feb. 17 on drug charges, symbols of support for her are all around. They come from people who don’t know her at […]
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Why Brittney Griner Could Be the Last American Basketball Star in Russia
“I spent 10 years there, so I know the way things work,” said Taurasi, who has played for Russian teams and is the leading scorer in W.N.B.A. history. “It’s delicate.” UMMC Yekaterinburg paid Taurasi a reported $1.5 million to skip the 2015 W.N.B.A. season and play only in Russia. “It was a very personal choice,” […]
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Brittney Griner’s WNBA Impact Is Clear As Fans Await Word from Russia
When Brittney Griner is on the basketball court, everyone knows. At 6-foot-9, she towers over most other players. She snatches rebounds over her opponents’ outstretched arms, and her teammates know the surest way to score: Deliver the ball to her. Since the Phoenix Mercury drafted Griner No. 1 overall in 2013, she has become one […]
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WNBA Center Brittney Griner Is Detained in Russia
WASHINGTON — Russia said on Saturday that it had detained an American basketball player — later identified as Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner — on drug charges, entangling a U.S. citizen’s fate in the dangerous confrontation between Russia and the West over Ukraine. The Russian Federal Customs Service said its officials had detained the player […]
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