Brittney Griner returns to the field and this time will sing the national anthem in support of "American liberties". The WNBA star puts on the Phoenix Mercury jersey for the first time since being released from Russian prison in December thanks to a prisoner exchange with arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Tonight at 20 local (5 in Italy) will play against the Los Angeles Sparks on the opening day of the American women's basketball championship. Before the game he will do something he hasn't done since George Floyd's death in 2020 to protest racial injustice and police brutality: he will be on the field, standing, during the playing of the national anthem, as his agent announced.
It's been 474 days since his last official match, played in Russia at the end of January 2022. Griner was stopped at the airport and then sentenced to nine years for possession of less than one gram of hashish. At last week's preseason game, the Phoenix crowd greeted the 32-year-old basketball star, activist for black and gay rights, with a standing ovation. Los Angeles' Crypto Arena will be no less warm tonight.
