Brittney Griner not with Mercury to concentrate on psychological well being
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Phoenix Mercury All-Star Brittney Griner can be away from her crew for at the least two video games “to concentrate on her psychological well being,” the WNBA crew introduced on Saturday.
Griner is not going to journey with the Mercury to Chicago and Indiana for upcoming street video games in opposition to the Sky and Fever on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively. The Mercury return dwelling to Phoenix to face the Atlanta Dream on Thursday, however it’s not clear when Griner will return to the lineup.
“The Mercury totally assist Brittney and we’ll proceed to work collectively on a timeline for her return,” the crew stated in a press release Saturday.
Griner is averaging 18.2 factors, 6.7 rebounds and a couple of.0 assists in her first season again with the Mercury since lacking your complete 2022 WNBA season whereas wrongfully detained in Russia for nearly 10 months. Forward of the season, Griner spoke about how the international ordeal affected her mental state.
“You’re going to be confronted with adversities all through your life – this was a fairly large one,” Griner stated in April. “You discover a method to simply grind it out. You simply put your head down and hold going, simply hold transferring ahead. You may by no means stand nonetheless, and that was my theme. Simply by no means be nonetheless. By no means get too centered on the now, simply look ahead.”
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Griner made her eighth All-Star look earlier this month and slammed down three dunks throughout the WNBA All-Star Sport, the place her return was the primary storyline of the night time.
The WNBA opted for a refined tribute with a “Welcome Again” shoutout on the jumbotron throughout the WNBA All-Star Sport. She obtained a loud applause from the group throughout introductions, loved a snow cone on the bench throughout the recreation and even snuck out throughout halftime together with her teammates to observe performer Kehlani.
“To have that ovation and all of the reminiscences that I can cherish means the world,” Griner stated. “I’m simply completely satisfied to be right here on this constructing. All-Star is a enjoyable time the place we get to be collectively… Simply being right here with them after what they did to assist me throughout one of many hardest occasions simply means all the things.”
Regardless of Griner’s dominant efficiency this season, the Mercury have been lower than stellar. Phoenix is 6-17 coming into Sunday’s recreation and head coach Vanessa Nygaard was fired in late June consequently. Lead assistant coach Nikki Blue was elevated to interim head coach for the rest of the 2023 season.
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