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PHX Mercury star to play first regular season WNBA game since release from Russian prison

KNAU News and Talk - Arizona Public Radio | By Associated Press
Published May 19, 2023 at 1:26 PM MST
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner plays during game three of the 2021 WNBA semifinals at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Ariz., on Oct. 3, 2021.
Christian Petersen
/
Getty Images
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner plays during game three of the 2021 WNBA semifinals at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Ariz., on Oct. 3, 2021.

Olympic gold medalist and WNBA star Brittney Griner will play her first regular season games with the Phoenix Mercury after her nearly year-long detention in a Russian prison on drug-related charges.

The 32-year-old center was arrested at a Moscow airport in February 2022 after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She returned to the U.S. in December after a high-profile prisoner swap.

The Phoenix Mercury will play the Los Angeles Sparks as part of a four-game series kicking off the first day of the WNBA season.
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