PHOENIX — The smile was there, as was the well-known Brittney Griner sense of levity. Thursday, in her first news conference since a 10-month detainment in Russia last year, Griner in many ways seemed like her old self.
“I’m a jokester,” Griner said. “I used humor a lot throughout this whole experience.”
Griner was wrongfully imprisoned after vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage when she was returning to Moscow in February 2022 to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg. Sentenced last August to nine years in prison, Griner was freed in December in a high-profile prisoner swap.
Griner, 32, has mostly kept a low profile since her return to the United States, although she has taken part in some events and attended a Phoenix Suns game. She has mostly focused on being back on court, where she will play her 10th WNBA season this summer. In February, Griner re-signed a one-year deal with the team that drafted her No. 1 in 2013.
In meeting with the media at Footprint Center on Thursday, Griner talked about her resilience, her gratitude,…
