Brittney Griner delivers slam dunk to celebrate return to US
Brittney Griner celebrated her US return with a slam dunk.
After nearly 10 months of captivity in Russia, the WNBA star was back on the court Sunday after landing in her home state of Texas days earlier.
Griner, 32, donned a pair of Chuck Taylor sneakers, Phoenix Suns shorts and a T-shirt promoting Title IX – and delivered a dunk at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, ESPN reported.
The 6-foot-9 hoopster — freed in a prisoner swap with international arms dealer Viktor Bout –had a light workout at the facility, her agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas told the outlet.
But she added that Griner isn’t ready to say when, or if, she plans to return to her career with the Phoenix Mercury.
“If she wants to play, it will be for her to share. She has the holidays to rest and decide what’s next without any pressure,” Colas told ESPN’s T.J. Quinn.
“She’s doing really, really well. She seems to have endured this in pretty incredible ways,” Colas said, adding Griner should make a statement this week about her plans.
“There’s no timeline on her return at this point. She’s reintegrating into a world that has changed for her now,” Colas said.
“From a pure security standpoint she’s not going to be able to move in the world the way she did. It’s not a fate that she asked for, but I think she’s going to try to utilize her fame for good,” she added.
Meanwhile, Griner got a new pair of glasses to replace the one ones that broke in Russia, according to ESPN.
Griner also got a haircut from the San Antonio Spurs barber, according to Colas, who said the hoops star wanted to clean up the rough cut she got because her signature dreads froze after showers at the penal colony.
The Phoenix Mercury center, who busted at a Moscow airport with cannabis oil, was sent to a penal colony in Mordovia while the US negotiated her release in a swap with Bout.
She has not yet spoken publicly about her time in captivity or its resolution.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said additional prisoner exchanges with the US are possible.
The US failed to secure freedom for former US Marine Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia since December 2018 on trumped-up espionage charges.
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