Brittney Griner makes emotional and 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, set two dunks and finished with 18 points in the league’s all-star game on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

The sold-out audience roared as Griner was introduced, and clearly moved by the ovation, she patted her heart with her right hand. There’s no question that Griner, a year after being forcibly absent from this event, was the star of the show.

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

Griner led Team Stewart, led by 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 milestone on a Griner pass. Maya Moore and Kelsey Plum each held the previous record with 30 points. Loyd earned MVP honors for the game.

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

Welcome back Brittney Griner

Griner was detained in Russia around this time last year on drug charges, sparking international outrage that she was being wrongfully detained. The WNBA named her an honorary starter, with every player wearing her number 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 field.

Team Stewart made Griner the centerpiece from the start. She delivered a dunk with 3:50 left in the first quarter on an outlet pass from Stewart. Griner also had a dunk just 25 seconds into the second half.

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

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

Griner was one of the players who wore microphones during the game and after missing a three-pointer, joked that she “got something in my eye”.

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

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

Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, and Dwyane Wade were among those watching NBA tapes. Wade buys an ownership interest in the Chicago Sky.

Change to all-star format

The all-star game heads to Phoenix next year, where it will be set up as a home game for Griner and Diana Taurasi and a broadcast to the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team.

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

The game is expected to be similar to the 2021 version where the US Olympic team played against players who were not selected for that team. The all-star squad beat the USA team 93-83 that year.

The exhibition match would give the Olympians a major 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 the chance to play for 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 it’s coming back,” she said after dominating Saturday in her return to the all-star game. “I know Phoenix and the Mercury organization are going to put on a great all-star. To play there for our fans, the city will come out, everyone will show up. It’s going to be a real good time.”

Engelbert said Taurasi’s potential finals and Griner’s return were not big reasons for awarding the game to Phoenix.

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