John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Brittney Griner is Trending After Decking WNBA Rookie

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Chris Phelps | Last updated May 7, 2025 3:02 PM ET

After 11 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, winning one WNBA championship in 2014, Brittney Griner elected to take her talents to the Atlanta Dream during the offseason.

Griner, a 6-foot-9 center out of Baylor, signed a one-year deal with Atlanta in late January. The decision came in light of future hall of famer Diana Taurasi's retirement from basketball.

"I was able to find where I wanted to go," Griner said. "And honestly, what led me to that decision ultimately was the team, the players, as individuals, and then also my family."

On Wednesday morning, Griner made her Atlanta debut as the Dream defeated the Washington Mystics, 80-70, in their 2025 preseason opener.

With just under four minutes remaining in the first half, Griner set a hard screen on Mystics guard Sonia Citron, sending the former Notre Dame Fighting Irish star flying to the deck — a welcome-to-the-WNBA moment for the rookie.

sonia citron welcome to the wnba pic.twitter.com/6te08lVLGd
— correlation (@nosyone4) May 7, 2025

Griner was charged with an illegal screen, giving Washington the ball. Still, WNBA fans took notice of Griner's hard hit on Citron, taking to social media to leave their thoughts.

"She was looking like a star fish lol," one fan said.

"Paige is next on BG list," joked another.

"Reminds me of CC bouncing off Stewie & busting her ear drum," wrote a third.

"It’s the wnba version of freshman hazing," commented a fourth.

"Not Brittany smiling cuz she knows lol," added a fifth.

"Damn BG really leaned into it," posted a sixth.

Griner finished her Atlanta debut with a team-leading 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 10 rebounds and three assists. Citron, in her second preseason game, scored five points on 2-of-5 shooting.

Griner and the Dream will have one more preseason game in 2025, facing Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Saturday. They will open the regular season against the Mystics on May 16.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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