On Friday, Brittney Griner made a triumphant return to the court playing her first regular season game since 2021. Griner appeared to show no rust in the first game of the 2023 WNBA season for her Phoenix Mercury as she scored a game high 18 points along with 6 rebounds and 4 blocks. Griner's return is already one of the biggest stories to start the WNBA season and I expect her to get back to her WNBA All-Star status as she continues what is already a success story due to her simply making it back to the court.
Before the start of the game, the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris addressed both the Sparks and Mercury in their respective locker rooms. The Vice President took a moment to congratulate Griner for her perseverance and the Mercury for "keeping her story alive". Brittney Griner was then greeted with a standing ovation from a raucous crowd in Los Angeles. She also received a warm welcome from several of her fellow WNBA players such as Candace Parker, Sabrina Ionescu, and Nneka Ogwumike.
After the game, she spoke about her emotions after her ordeal in Russia and returning to basketball stating, "I appreciate everything a little bit more".
Although Griner's return was a major bright spot for the Mercury the game itself was a disappointing effort as they were dominated by the Sparks basically from the second quarter onward. Phoenix started out with a three point lead in the first quarter before being outscored 35 to 19 in the second quarter. The Sparks led 54-41 at half and the Mercury basically never recovered as the game continued to get out of hand. The Mercury did not have an answer for the Ogwumike sisters as Nneka and Chiney combined for 32 points to lead the Sparks to the 94-71 victory in Los Angeles.
Source: ESPN YouTube Channel
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