Brittney Griner Named AP Co-WNBA Comeback Player Of The Year

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Nine months after returning from a prison stint in Russia, Brittney Griner has been named the Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-9 center returned to the Phoenix Mercury in 2023 after missing all of the 2022 season.

She, of course, took this involuntary leave of absence from the team while she served nearly 10 months in a Russian prison. That's after she pleaded guilty to drug charges when authorities discovered cannabis oil vape canisters in her luggage.

The nine-time All-Star originally received a nine-year sentence. But the Biden Administration surrendered a literal "Merchant of Death" to get her out early.

Griner averaged 17.5 points and 6.3 rebounds this season.

The AP gives its Comeback Player of Year award to athletes who show the perseverance to overcome adversity. Usually that means fighting back after an injury or drastically improving their performance over the previous year. In Griner's case, though, it's for returning to basketball after a drug charge.

Griner shares this year's distinction with the Minnesota Lynx's Napheesa Collier. Collier missed nearly all of last season after giving birth to her first child. She averaged 21.5 points and 8.5 rebounds to help Minnesota earn the sixth seed in the playoffs.

Brittney Griner Named AP Comeback Player Of The Year

Brittney Griner wins the 2023 AP Comeback Player of the Year award. (Photo by Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images)

Griner's Mercury, on the other hand, didn't fare so well.

Phoenix finished last in league standings at 9-31 and missed the WNBA Playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Griner, who turns 33 in October, says she plans to return to the Mercury in 2024. The two-time gold medalist also said she hopes to get the invite to compete in the Paris Olympics next year.

"There's no greater honor than playing for the USA, playing for your country," Griner said. "I've got some really good memories with Team USA, so I would love the chance to continue that."

That's a wildly different tune than she was singing just a few years ago.

Call it a comeback, I guess.

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Amber is a Midwestern transplant living in Murfreesboro, TN. She spends most of her time taking pictures of her dog, explaining why real-life situations are exactly like "this one time on South Park," and being disappointed by the Tennessee Volunteers.