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Brittney Griner has returned to the court for her first basketball workout nearly ten months after she was initially detained in Russia.
Lindsay Kagawa Colas, her agent, told ESPN that the WNBA star, donning a Title IX T-shirt, Phoenix Suns shorts, and black Chuck Taylors, hit a slam dunk as her first move on a Texas basketball court following her Friday (December 9) return to the U.S.
Griner was released on Thursday (December 8) from Russian custody via a 1-for-1 prisoner swap involving convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout. She arrived at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for a routine evaluation early Friday.
Colas said Griner is unsure about her return to the WBNA, which is set to begin its regular season on May 19, 2023. Griner played frequently in Russia during the WNBA offseason before her detainment.
“If she wants to play, it will be for her to share,” Colas told ESPN. “She has the holidays to rest and decide what’s next without any pressure. She’s doing really, really well. She seems to have endured this in pretty incredible ways.”
But off the court, Griner's life has been changed forever, and reintegrating into daily life may be challenging for the basketball pro, a US-based executive who was held abroad for years told CNN.
“She’s reintegrating into a world that has changed for her now. From a pure security standpoint, she’s not going to be able to move in the world the way she did,” Colas said. “It’s not a fate that she asked for, but I think she’s going to try to utilize her fame for good.”
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