It's been a great #WNBA season thus far, and there is still lots of star power that has yet to suit up! Some players of note:

- #BritneyGriner just made their season debut for the #PhoenixMercury on Friday
- #SatouSabally is out for the #DallasWings until after the #Olympics
- #ChelseaGray (the WNBA's "Point god") is out for the #LasVegasAces until...nobody knows, except it's been labeled "day-to-day" for 3+ weeks
- #JordinCanada is out for the #AtlantaDream with a TBD timeline

FYI, if you have ESPN, tonight at 8pm PT, #BritneyGriner returns to the floor as the Phoenix Mercury take on the LA Sparks. 🏀

#WNBA #basketball #womenshoops

https://jezebel.com/brittney-griners-first-wnba-game-since-russian-detentio-1850454382

Brittney Griner's First WNBA Game Since Russian Detention Is Tonight

It’s been 579 days since we last saw the WNBA All-Star play in a regular season game.

Jezebel
After nearly 10 months of imprisonment in Russia, Brittney Griner is recuperating at a military medical facility in Texas
#britneygriner #Russia #Texas
https://www.cnn.com/collections/intl-1212-griner/
I just read that #BritneyGriner is being physically and mentally examined at a Texas army facility. From Russia to Texas. This woman can't catch a break. Geez.
Mitt Romney told me that it symbolically says a lot about Russia that the USA wanted to get a young athlete home while they were eager to get an arms dealer. #BritneyGriner #ViktorBout
Such a good point, considering those complaining about the #BritneyGriner prisoner swap. #BirdSite
https://twitter.com/TheValuesVoter/status/1601287959378292736
TheValuesVoter on Twitter

“Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia on 12/28/18 and accused of spying. Maria Butina was arrested in DC on 7/15/18 and accused of spying. She was released on 10/25/19 and deported to Russia. In exchange for ..: what??? All during Trump’s Presidency.”

Twitter

@velorhetor @CEmcke #russia #britneygriner

One might call Mrs. Griner most stupid ( if she really carried that canabis stuff with her ) but that is not the point. I guess Russia might be encouraged to further extortions.

Dave Zirin on How Brittney Griner’s Supporters Secured Her Freedom

Basketball star Brittney Griner landed in the United States early Friday after nearly 10 months of detention in Russia. Griner was freed Thursday in a dramatic prisoner swap between the United States and Russia, with the Biden administration agreeing to free Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer who was serving a 25-year sentence. Griner had been held in Russia since February, when she was arrested at a Moscow airport for possessing a small amount of cannabis oil, and her status as an openly gay Black woman made freeing her from a country with anti-LGBT laws a pressing concern for supporters. But journalist Dave Zirin says the sports world was still slow to rally to Griner’s cause due to sexism, racism and homophobia. “The amount of erasure and deliberate ignoring of Brittney Griner’s case was apparent to anybody who listens to sports radio or watches sports television,” says Zirin, sports editor for The Nation magazine and host of the Edge of Sports podcast. “If it was Steph Curry or Tom Brady imprisoned overseas … the cacophony would have been so loud. Yet with Brittney Griner there was silence.”

Democracy Now!
One person isn't more valuable than another. The #britneygriner discourse is disappointing and exhausting. So stoked she's free.