Brittney Griner to rejoin Team USA for November exhibitions
Brittney Griner is following up on her promise to play for her country.
The Phoenix Mercury center will participate in training camp for USA Basketball in the lead-up to two exhibition games in November against college powerhouses Tennessee and Duke. It will be the first time Griner suits up for Team USA since the 2020 Summer Olympics, which took place in 2021 after the events were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It's also the first time she will play for her country since returning home from her imprisonment in Russia in 2022.
Ahead of the Mercury's training camp for the just-finished 2023 WNBA season back in April, Griner said that she would never play internationally unless she was selected to play for Team USA.
In 31 games this past season, Griner had per-game averages of 17.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.6 blocks and an effective field-goal percentage of .563. Despite her solid play — and after not touching a basketball for at least a year — the Mercury were far from a good team in 2023, sporting a league-worst 9-31 record. The franchise just hired Nate Tibbets from the Orlando Magic, making him the team's fourth head coach in three years after dismissing Vanessa Nygaard and having Nikki Blue finish last season as interim head coach.
Griner's addition to the team is certainly more than symbolic of the support she received from both the women's national team and President Joe Biden's administration, which negotiated her release. She's a vital cog to the most dominant entity in all of Team USA, which can run three deep in every position on the roster against any country. Sabreena Merchant of The Athletic noted that her presence should solidify the center position as her replacements in the 2022 FIBA World Cup were both injured during the 2023 WNBA season.
The women's national team is aiming for its eighth consecutive gold medal and hasn't lost an Olympic game since 1992. Griner was part of the 2016 and 2020 gold-medal-winning teams. Provided she plays well and remains healthy, she'd be a lock to join Team USA for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
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