Brittney Griner is ready to move on to the next chapter. The WNBA star announced that she is signing with a new team in order to give her career a “rebrand.”
After 11 seasons, more than a decade, with the Phoenix Mercury, Griner plans to sign with the Atlanta Dream. Griner’s contract consists of a one-year deal, and she will officially sign on Saturday February 1, when the free agency off-season begins.
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Last week, Griner announced that she was testing free agency for the first time in her career, signaling that she was not likely to return to the Mercury. Now mere days before the season opens, she’s already found her match.
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On Wednesday, Griner announced the news in an Instagram reel. Cruising in a fishing boat off the coast of Miami, she introduced her new teammates and explained her decision to leave the Mercury.
“Free agency has been everything I wanted it to be, honestly,” Griner said. “I was able to find where I wanted to go. What led me to that decision, ultimately, was the team, the players, as individuals, and also my family. I’m thrilled for this chapter.”
The 10-time All-Star explained that leaving the Mercury, where she’d spent the entirety of her career, was not easy. In spite of that, she’s looking forward to where she can go from here.
“It’s a hard decision,” Griner added. “You’re leaving what you know, what I’ve known for my whole career. But I’m also really excited with the fact, this is like a rebrand now, I’ve got to show them something different.”
After the Mercury drafted Griner in 2013, she earned All-Rookie and helped carry the team to the WNBA conference finals in her very first season. Since then, she has distinguished her talent again and again, making 10 All-Star, 3 All-WNBA First and 3 All-Defensive First teams, and she has won 3 Olympic medals for the US.
In 2022, Griner’s career was brought to a halt when she was arrested in Russia over vape cartridges in her travel bags. Despite the cartridges containing only trace amounts of hashish oil, Russian authorities charged her with drug trafficking and sentenced her to 9 years in prison. The harsh sentence was widely criticized as retaliation against the US for its support of Ukraine.
After 10 months under detainment, Griner was released in a prisoner swap. Now, she’s not just content with getting her life back on track—she wants to leave the track behind for new heights.
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