Brittney Griner joins Phoenix Mercury preseason coaching after 10-month detention in Russia

Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner careworn on Sunday that she is steadily getting again into form forward of the brand new WNBA season, as she has joined preseason coaching together with her group.

Griner returned to Phoenix after being launched from Russia jail, the place she was held in custody for 10 months over drug possession and smuggling fees.

“When [my release] got here shortly, I used to be actually blissful and I knew I could not wait to get again on the court docket,” Griner mentioned after her first coaching session in keeping with ESPN.

“It is every part that I needed it to be, simply discovering my groove, simply getting again into it.”

Griner was sentenced in August to 9 years in jail for drug possession and smuggling after being arrested for carrying hash oil in February 2022 at a Moscow airport.

U.S. authorities introduced in December a take care of the Russian authorities to launch Griner in trade for arms seller Viktor Bout.

Griner just lately introduced that she plans to jot down a memoir about her ten months of detention in Russia. The brand new WNBA season will start on Could 19 and the Mercury‘s first recreation, towards the Los Angeles Sparks, can be broadcast stay nationally.