Brittney Griner discusses national anthem stance in return: ‘I definitely want to stand’. Griner scored 18 points in her return.
Brittney Griner made her 2023 WNBA standard season debut on Friday and the seven-time Elite player quickly made her presence felt.
Griner scored 18 focuses, snatched six bounce back, and obstructed four shots in her most memorable customary season game since being imprisoned in Russia for almost 10 months.
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Griner represented the national anthem of devotion before the clue against the Los Angeles Sparkles, a 94-71 misfortune for the Mercury.
“You reserve the option to dissent, the right to ready to stand up, question, challenge and do everything,” Griner expressed, as indicated by ESPN. “What I went through and everything, it simply implies somewhat more to me now. So I need to have the option to stand. I was in a real sense in an enclosure [in Russia] and couldn’t stand how I would have preferred to.
“Simply having the option to hear my public hymn, see my banner, I most certainly need to stand. Presently everyone that won’t stand or not emerge, I absolutely support them 100%. That is our right, as an American in this extraordinary country.”
Griner was arrested in February 2022 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after authorities discovered vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage.
Her Russian detainment ended in December after months of strained negotiations, with the Biden administration agreeing to exchange Griner for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
“I appreciate everything a little bit more, all of the small moments, like, ‘Oh, I’m so tired I don’t want to go to practice today,’ that has changed, honestly,” she said. “Tomorrow is not guaranteed, you don’t know what it’s going to look like. I feel a lot older somehow, too.”
Griner stated in July 2020 that she didn’t think the national anthem should be played during the WNBA season, adding that she would not be on the court for the anthem if it were to continue to be played before games.
On Friday, Griner’s agent penned an op-ed in Time explaining why Griner intends to stand for the national anthem during the 2023 WNBA season.