Brittney Griner – Biography, Height, Husband, Boyfriend, Family

Brittney Yevette Griner (born October 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) currently imprisoned in Russia. She played college basketball for the Baylor Lady Bears in Waco, Texas. She is the only NCAA basketball player to both score 2,000 points and block 500 shots. In 2012, the three-time All-American was named the AP Player of the Year and the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Griner is one of 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA championship, a FIBA World Cup gold medal and a WNBA championship.

In 2009, Griner was named the nation's No. 1 high school women's basketball player by Rivals.com. She was selected to the 2009 Phoenix Mercury All-American basketball team. In 2012, she received the Best Female Athlete ESPY Award. In 2013, Griner signed an endorsement deal with Nike. Standing 6 ft 9 in (206 cm) tall, Griner wears a men's U.S. size 17 shoe and has an arm span of 87.5 in (222 cm).

Griner was on the United States women's Olympic team in 2016, and led them to victory at the Rio Olympics. In 2020, Griner protested the Star Spangled Banner and stated she would not be on the court while the national anthem was played during game openers. Griner was named to the United States women's national team for the 2020 Olympics, (held in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan), where she won her second gold medal.

In February 2022, Griner was detained by Russian customs after cartridges containing hashish oil were found in her luggage, and later arrested on smuggling charges. She had been entering Russia to play with the Russian Premier League during the WNBA offseason. Her trial began on July 1, and she pleaded guilty to the charges. On August 4, she was sentenced to nine years in prison. US officials have stated that she is "wrongfully detained." Griner's family is part of the Bring Our Families Home campaign that advocates for the immediate release of wrongfully-held detainees. In November of 2022 Griner was transferred to the Russian penal colony IK-2.