San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
GRINER RETURNS IN AN EMOTIONAL ASG APPEARANCE
Brittney Griner made an emphatic and emotional return to the WNBA’S midseason showcase event.
She scored her team’s first six points, put down two dunks and finished with 18 points in the league’s All-star Game on Saturday night.
The sellout crowd roared when Griner was introduced, and clearly moved by the ovation, she tapped her heart with her right hand. There was no doubt, a year after forcefully being absent from this event, that Griner was the star of the show.
“I didn’t think I’d be here today,” Griner said. “Everyone sending the letters and the love meant a lot to me.”
Griner led Team Stewart, captained by the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart, to a 143-127 over Team Wilson, led by the Aces’ A’ja Wilson.
Team Stewart’s Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm broke the All-star Game scoring record with 31 points, setting the mark on a pass from Griner. Maya Moore and Kelsey Plum each had the previous record with 30 points. Loyd earned MVP honors for the game.
Plum actually tied her own record with 30 points, one of four Aces competing for Team Wilson, who received loud ovations from the home crowd in pregame introductions.
Griner at this time last year was being held in Russia on drug charges, sparking international outrage that she was being wrongfully held. The WNBA named her an honorary starter, with every player wearing her No. 42 jersey in the second half of last year’s game.
This time Griner was actually in the starting lineup — the only one with that jersey number — overshadowing almost everything that happened on the court.
Team Stewart made Griner the focal point from the start. She delivered a dunk with 3:50 left in the first quarter off an outlet pass from Stewart. Griner also had a dunk just 25 seconds into the second half.
“I called my knees and talked to them and gave them a little pep talk,” the 32-yearold Griner said of her dunks.
Griner at one point in the first quarter challenged Team Wilson point guard Chelsea Gray of the Aces, but Gray drove past the nine-time All-star from the Phoenix Mercury and dropped in a reverse layup from high off the glass.
At the first media timeout, Griner was shown on the video board as she sat on the bench with the words, “WELCOME BACK BRITTNEY GRINER” on the screen.
Sue Bird, Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles were among the EX-WNBA players in attendance, with Fowles wearing Napheesa Collier’s Minnesota Lynx jersey.
Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Dwyane Wade were among those with NBA ties watching.
Notable
The 2024 WNBA All-star Game is headed to Phoenix, setting up as a home game for Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi and a sendoff to the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team.