Brittney Griner compares hearing the national anthem in WNBA return to the Olympics

Brittney Griner played her first basketball game since her release from a Russian prison camp. And the WNBA star said she noticed something different.

Check that. Nothing tangible was different. Rather, she noticed how the national anthem took on a new, powerful meaning. The Mercury played the Los Angeles Sparks in an exhibition game Friday to tune up for the start of the regular season, which starts in a week.

Brittney Griner stood with her teammates in pre-game. She took in the cheers from the fans who welcomed her back. And she listened to the anthem.

“Hearing the national anthem, it definitely hit different,” Griner told reporters after the game. “It’s like when you go for the Olympics, you’re sitting there, about to get gold put on your neck, the flags are going up, and the anthem is playing, it just hits different.”

She added “Being here today … it means a lot.”

Brittney Griner helped the U.S. win two Olympic gold medals. The medal ceremony and anthem were the desired goals. Conversely, back in 2020, she also participated in some protests against the national anthem. She never kneeled. Rather she suggested that the anthem shouldn’t be played before every WNBA game. And she wouldn’t be on the court while the anthem played.

On Friday night, Griner was front and center at Footprint Center Arena in Phoenix, for the pre-game ceremonies. She hadn’t played in an organized game since the United States secured her release last December in a prisoner swap with Russia.

“We looked at each other, and we just had chills,” Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said in a post-game press conference about Brittney Griner. “We were here last year for all of it. I’m getting emotional about it now. Just to see her back out there — it’s an absolute miracle. It was amazing. It’s giving me chills again.”