Brittney Griner returns to year-round basketball with Unrivaled after Russia detainment drama

For the first time in nearly three years, Brittney Griner will be playing organized offseason basketball. Griner is one of 36 players who will take the court in Miami later this month for the inaugural season of Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 women’s basketball league co-founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. She said she was “looking forward” to the opportunity to once again play year-round, which she had done after every WNBA season prior to being detained in Russia for nearly 10 harrowing months in 2022. Griner, who had been playing for Russian powerhouse UMMC Ekaterinburg, returned to the U.S.in December 2022 via a prisoner swap orchestrated by President Joe Biden’s administration. She rejoined the WNBA in 2023 and took the months between that season and the 2024 campaign to be away from the game. But in those months off, Griner couldn’t help but feel deprived of the game she loves. That’s part of what made the opportunity of participating in Unrivaled so special. “I (felt) like something was missing in my offseason anyway,” Griner said Tuesday during Unrivaled availability.

“I was used to playing year-round and then after everything that happened, I kind of felt like there was a void, because I should be playing and not really being off honestly.”Griner said this opportunity to play stateside “hit me a little different.”“I wanted to go back to work honestly year-round,” Griner said.“So I think this is just going to help me stay fresh, stay knocking all the dust off and just being ready for when the ‘W’ comes back around.” Players have been in Miami for less than a week, but many have been blown by the thought and investment put into the league. “They’re bringing something new to women’s basketball,” Griner said.

“They’re making it exciting.They’re doing something different.

They’re trying to give us a different look and a different feel on how we can bring everybody together in one spot a...