NBA: Brittney Griner overcame her prison experience in Russia to earn a starting position in the All-Star game
For the Women’s NBA All-Star Game on July 15 in Las Vegas, Brittney Griner, who missed the whole of the previous season due to her imprisonment in Russia, was announced as the starter on Sunday.
It was Griner’s sixth All-Star selection overall, counting the honorary selection she received from WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert last year.
Griner was detained last year in Russia for possessing cannabis oil, found guilty, and given a jail term before being released in a prisoner swap in December.
For the Phoenix Mercury, who have the poorest record in the WNBA at 2-10, Griner has averaging 19.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, a league-best 2.4 blocked shots, and 1.7 assists per game.
On Sunday, the Mercury sacked head coach Vanessa Nygaard and replaced her as temporary head coach for the rest of the campaign with assistant coach Nikki Blue.
Griner made his game-return on Saturday in a 97-74 defeat to Seattle after missing three games due to a hip ailment.
Griner, 32, is playing in her tenth WNBA year. She played for two US Olympic gold medal teams and assisted Phoenix in winning the 2014 league championship.
