Brittney Griner is a professional basketball player currently employed by Phoenix Mercury from the Women’s National Basketball Association WNBA. She joined the Phoenix in 2013 after being selected by the team in the first overall selection of the 2013 WNBA Draft.
The tall and beautiful player started playing basketball at Nimitz High School in Houston. She also played as a student at Baylor University Waco, Texas, before being drafted into the WNBA in 2013. As a college player, Brittney was the only NCAA basketball player to score 2,000 points and block 500 shots.
In addition to her high school, college, and WNBA activities, she played with several international teams including the Zhejiang Golden Bulls and the UMMC Ekaterinburg. Learn more exciting facts about the basketball star, her height, wife, girlfriend, parents, and more.
Brief Bio
Brittney’s full name is Brittney Yevette Griner and she was born on October 18, 1990, to African-American parents – Raymond and Sandra Griner. There is no further information about her parents or what they do for a living. She has three older siblings – two sisters, Shkera and Pier, and one brother Decarlo Griner.
She attended the Nimitz Gymnasium, where she began to show her love for sports. First, she was a member of the school’s volleyball team as a freshman. In her second year, she began practicing with the boys’ basketball team to develop her leg strength in preparation and readiness for dunking. This process was recorded and the video went virally online and was viewed over 2.7 million times, earning her a meeting with Shaquille O’Neal.
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The young woman became so good that when she graduated from Nimitz High School, she led the school team to the Texas 5A Girls Basketball State Championship game. Unfortunately, the team lost to Mansfield Summit High School. In high school, Brittany scored 52 times in 32 games, setting a single-game record of seven dunkings against Aldine High School.
Her outstanding records and performances soon earned her a WBCA All-American and she took part in the 2009 WBCA High School All-America Game where she led the team by 20 points and 9 rebounds and was soon named the nation’s number one high school women’s basketball player by Rivals.com.
College Career
After high school, Griner played college basketball at Baylor University, a private Baptist university in Waco, Texas. During her college career, Brittney Griner broke amazing records. In her sophomore year, she received her First Team All-American Honors after averaging 23 points per game, including 40 points against Green Bay at Sweet 16, a career highlight.
During her junior years, she averaged 23.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 5 blocks per game, blocked more shots than any other Division I women’s team and was named AP Player of the Year.
She became the seventh player to score during a women’s college basketball game and the only second woman to score twice in a single college game. She also earned her second and third dunk in her college career in a one-sided 99-18 win over Texas State University.
In 2010, Baylor finished fourth in the NCAA tournament, and Griner set a record of 14 blocked shots in a 49-33 win over Georgetown Hoyas. She became the 2012 prime minister of women’s college basketball and the most outstanding player in the last four.
WNBA Career
Brittany Griner began her professional career in 2013 after she was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury as the first overall candidate in the 2013 WNBA Draft for an amazing and successful rookie season. In her debut match against Chicago Sky, she was the first player in WNBA history to dunk twice in one game.
Griner was soon named WNBA All-Star but missed the 2013 WNBA All-Star game due to a right knee injury she sustained and was replaced by Tina Thompson. With the combination of Candice Dupree, Brittney Griner, and Diana Taurasi, the Mercury had an amazing 2014 season, setting the WNBA record for the most wins in a regular season.
After their contract as rookies expired, Griner signed a multi-year contract with the Mercury again in 2017 and has remained with the team ever since. Apart from college and the WNBA, Brittney Griner has also played for the US basketball team. In 2011 she played with the US national team for two weeks as part of their European training tour under coach Geno Auriemma.
She was also on the finalist list for the US women’s Olympic basketball team in 2012 but was unable to participate in the Olympics due to her school schedule and some family challenges. Four years later (2016) she played with the US Women’s Olympic Basketball Team at the Summer Olympics and won her first Olympic medal after defeating Spain 101-72.
Brittney Griner – Wife (Glory Johnson), Girlfriend, Parents
Brittney Griner came out as a lesbian in an interview with SI.com in 2013. According to her, she first told her mother Sandra Griner about her sexuality during her freshman year in high school but kept it hidden from her father Raymond Briner until her senior year, and when he found out, he threw her out of the house.
The father’s girl, who is now in a good relationship with her father, remembered the difficulties she was having at the time and said that this experience made her a tough person and prepared her for life. Her story, which she wrote in a memoir with Sue Hovey, is entitled In My Skin: My Life on and Off the Basketball Court.
In 2014 Brittney announced her engagement to her WNBA colleague Glory Johnson. A year later, in April 2015, both were arrested on charges of assault and battery and disorderly conduct. Police had broken into their Arizona home to break up an argument between them.
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The following month – May 2015 – they entered into a marriage in Phoenix, Arizona, and in June the couple announced that Johnson was pregnant with twins. The next day Griner filed for divorce on the grounds of fraud and coercion.
She revealed that she had no biological connection to the twins and that Johnson had become pregnant through IVF treatment with her eggs and a sperm donation. The divorce was finalized in June 2016.
How Tall Is Brittney Griner? – Height
Basketball players are usually very tall, and Brittney Griner is no exception. She stands 6 feet 8 inches off the ground, has a wingspan of 88 inches, wears men’s size 17 shoes, and is in fact one of the biggest basketball players there is.
Interestingly, the only international players to exceed her height are Allyssa DeHaan, who is 6’6″ (6 foot 9 inches) tall, Heidi Gillingham, who is 6’8″ (6 foot 10 inches) tall, late Margo Dydek, who is 7″ (7 foot 2 inches) tall, and late Sue Geh, who is 6″ (6 foot 9 inches) tall.