Brittney Griner makes emotional, dominant return to WNBA All-Star Game

Brittney Griner made an emphatic and emotional return to the WNBA’s mid-season showcase event.

She scored her team’s first six points, put down two dunks and finished with 18 points in the league’s all-star game on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

The sellout crowd roared when Griner was introduced, and clearly moved by the ovation, she tapped her heart with her right hand. There was no doubt, a year after forcefully being absent from this event, that Griner was the star of the show.

“I didn’t think I’d be here today,” Griner said. “Everyone sending the letters and the love, meant a lot to me.”

Griner led Team Stewart, captained by the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart, to a 143-127 over Team Wilson, led by the Aces’ A’ja Wilson.

Team Stewart’s Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm broke the all-star game scoring record with 31 points, setting the mark on a pass from Griner. Maya Moore and Kelsey Plum each had the previous record with 30 points. Loyd earned MVP honours for the game.

Plum actually tied her own record with 30 points, one of four Aces competing for Team Wilson, who received loud ovations from the home crowd in pregame introductions.

‘Welcome back Brittney Griner’

Griner at this time last year was being held in Russia on drug charges, sparking international outrage that she was being wrongfully held. The WNBA named her an honourary starter, with every player wearing her No. 42 jersey in the second half of last year’s game.

This time Griner was actually in the starting lineup — the only one with that jersey number — overshadowing almost everything that happened on the court.

Team Stewart made Griner the focal point from the beginning. She delivered a dunk with 3:50 remaining in the first quarter off an outlet pass from Stewart. Griner also had a dunk just 25 seconds into the second half.

Griner at one point in the first quarter challenged Team Wilson point guard Chelsea Gray of the Aces, but Gray drove past the nine-time all-star from the Phoenix Mercury and dropped in a reverse layup from high off the glass.

At the first media timeout, Griner was shown on the video board as she sat on the bench with the words, “WELCOME BACK BRITTNEY GRINER” on the screen below her face.

Griner was among the players who wore microphones during the game, joking after missing a 3-pointer that she “got something in my eye.”

The game was played with a 20-second shot clock rather than the usual 24, two four-point spots on each side of the court were added and there were no free throws. The teams combined to hit 12 four-point shots.

Sue Bird, Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles were among the ex-WNBA players in attendance, with Fowles wearing Napheesa Collier’s Minnesota Lynx jersey.

Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Dwyane Wade were among those with NBA ties watching. Wade is buying an ownership stake in the Chicago Sky.

Change in all-star format

The all-star game is headed to Phoenix next year, setting up as a home game for Griner and Diana Taurasi and a sendoff to the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced Saturday that the event would be hosted by the Mercury.

The game is expected to be similar to the 2021 version that featured the U.S. Olympic team playing against players not selected for that team. The all-star squad beat the U.S. team that year 93-83.

The exhibition contest would give the Olympians a marquee event on home soil before heading to Paris.

Playing in Phoenix, which also hosted the all-star game in 2000 and 2014, would give Griner a chance to play in front of the Mercury fans as well. Griner, who is a nine-time all-star, said she would love to play in the Paris Olympics if asked.

“I’m lucky enough for it to be coming back again,” she said after dominating in her return to the all-star game on Saturday. “I know Phoenix and the Mercury organization are going to put on one hell of an all-star. To play there in front of our fans, the city is going to come out, everyone’s going to turn up. It’s going to be a real good time.”

Engelbert said that Taurasi’s potential finale and Griner’s return weren’t big reasons in awarding the game to Phoenix.

“Those weren’t factors, but those are nice to have as part of the storyline next year with it being an Olympic year,” she said.