Mercury center Brittney Griner returns from injury, to make season debut Friday vs. Lynx
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner will make her season debut on Friday coming off a fractured toe on her left foot. She last played in a preseason game on May 7.
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner will make her much-anticipated season debut on Friday against the Minnesota Lynx.
The nine-time WNBA All-Star missed nearly a month after fracturing a toe on her left foot. She last appeared in a preseason game on May 7.
In Griner’s only appearance this season, a preseason loss against the Seattle Storm, she played 15 minutes and had five points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
Griner returned to practice on Thursday for the first time since suffering the toe injury. She was seen participating in drills with the team’s starters.
“(It was) as close as we’ve had her (to full speed) in the last month,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said after practice on Thursday. “We haven’t practiced in about 16 days so that was full speed for everyone, but yeah it was good to have her back out on the court today.
“It’s been a return to play the last week to 10 days so we’ll see how she responds today. This was her first practice and hopefully we’re seeing her back in a uniform soon.”
Griner was ruled as questionable heading into Friday’s contest.
“First, you always want her to feel safe,” Tibbetts said. “You don’t ever want to put a player out there that’s not comfortable being out there so I’m sure our medical team is talking to her and seeing where she stands today.”
How will the Phoenix Mercury’s style of play evolve now that Brittney Griner is back?
“It may be clunky and it may be a little bit disruptive at times for the group and her,” Tibbetts said about the team’s style of play. “Just we’ve been playing a month without her, but she’s so talented that we are going to evolve. It’s another option. We’ve been playing with a ton of space, shooting a bunch of threes but we’ve kinda been forced to without her.
“To be able to have the option to be able to throw her the ball in the post whenever we want it’s going to be a great addition. The respect of the league that they have for her. Are they going to double her or let her play one-on-one we’ll see.”
Mercury guard Sophie Cunningham is also excited about Griner’s return. Cunningham has been Griner’s teammate in Phoenix since 2019.
“It’s good to have her back,” Cunningham said after practice on Thursday. “We’re gonna have to show her a little bit of grace going out like that. It’s crazy we’re 10 games in and we haven’t seen her play yet this season which is weird.
“Anytime you can have your 6-7, 6-8 girl down there, it's going to be nice for us. It’s going to draw a lot of attention. Open more shots for us on the 3-point line, so just to have her back is refreshing.”
How has Griner’s return to the court progressed?
On May 25, Desert Wave Media reported that Griner was seen without a walking boot for the first time publicly.
“Well it is good to see her without the boot, so we’re headed in the right direction,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said on May 29. “I think it has been good for her mentally to get out of the boot. Every day we’re getting closer, I know she can’t wait and we can’t wait.”
Griner averaged 17.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 31 games last season. In March, she re-signed with the Mercury, the only WNBA team she’s played for.
“I feel great. I feel like a basketball player, I feel like an athlete. Everything I want to do, I can do it,” Griner said at media day before the injury occurred.
“The cool thing is when I got the job it was the offseason, but (Griner) was in Phoenix and I got to spend time with her and get to know her as a person and she is just an absolutely awesome human being,” Tibbetts said on May 29. “This was her first real offseason of work to work on her body, work on her game. She was having a tremendous training camp and kind of the rug was pulled out from underneath her with this injury.”
Natasha Mack has started the first 10 games of the season for the Mercury in Griner’s absence. The forward out of Oklahoma State is averaging 4.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.1 blocks per game.
Mack is one of only seven players in WNBA history to average at least 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 blocks and 0.9 steals over the first 10 games of the season.
Griner spent 294 days incarcerated in Russia after she was detained on Feb. 17, 2022 when authorities found cannabis oil in her luggage.
The 33-year-old was later sentenced to nine years in prison under drug-smuggling charges. She was released on Dec. 8, 2022 and made her competitive return to the WNBA on May 19, 2023.
“I’m in a really good place, so it’s not overwhelming or anything,” Griner said about the Mercury’s coaching and front office changes at media day. “Some people might be like, all this new change and all this new stuff can be a lot but I’m ready for it. I was ready for a new beginning. I’ve been with coach (Tibbetts) this whole offseason and (we) got to really know each other really well. I’m just excited. I’m ready for something more. We get so used to being at a normal state where we don’t encourage the new and I’m just embracing that.”
When will Mercury forward Bec Allen return from injury?
Mercury guard/forward Bec Allen (concussion protocol) will also make her return from injury in Friday’s home game versus the Minnesota Lynx.
Allen has not played in the team’s last five games after suffering a head injury in the Mercury’s 107-92 loss to the Dallas Wings on May 25.
“I think Bec is close also,” Tibbetts said after practice on Thursday. “... Just exciting to have them back with the team. They haven’t been with us because we’ve been out on the road. Hopefully, we get good news tomorrow.”
In her first season with the Mercury, Allen is averaging 5.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists over five games played.
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