Brittney Griner Biography, Family, Siblings, WNBA, Wife and Net Worth

This article will answer every question you have about Brittney Griner. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about her.

  1. What does Brittney Griner do for a living?
  2. Who are Brittney Griner’s parents and siblings?
  3. What are Brittney Griner’s interests and hobbies?
  4. Is Brittney Griner married or does she have a girlfriend/ boyfriend?
  5. Does Brittney Griner have any children?
  6. Where is Brittney Griner now?
  7. How tall is Brittney Griner?
  8. How much money does Brittney Griner earn?
  9. What is Brittney Griner’s net worth?

N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.

 Who is Brittney Griner?

Brittney Yevette Griner is a famous American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She previously played college basketball for the Baylor Lady Bears in Waco, Texas. Griner is the only NCAA basketball player to both score 2,000 points and blocks 500 shots. The three-time All-American was named the AP Player of the Year and the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in 2012.

Griner was also named the nation’s No. 1 high school women’s basketball player by Rivals.com in 2009. She was picked to the 2009 Phoenix Mercury All-American basketball team and received the Best Female Athlete ESPY Award in 2012. Griner signed an endorsement contract with Nike in 2013. She stands 6 ft 9 in (206 cm) tall and wears a men’s US size 17 shoe and has an arm span of 87.5 in (222 cm).
Brittney was on the United States women’s Olympic team in 2016 and led them to win at the Rio Olympics. She protested the Star-Spangled Banner and she said she wouldn’t be on the court while the national anthem was played during game openers in 2020. Griner was later named to the United States women’s national team for the 2020 Olympics, where she won her second gold medal in 2021. She was one of 11 women to earn an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a Fiba World cup gold, and a WNBA Championship.

Griner was arrested by the Russian Federal Customs Service (FCS) in February 2022. She was detained on allegations that cartridges containing hashish oil had been found in her luggage. Griner had been entering Russia to play with the Russian Premier League during the WNBA offseason, and still remains in custody as of May.

Brittney Griner career

High school career

Griner attended Nimitz High School, where she played basketball throughout high school and varsity volleyball as a freshman. Britteny practiced with the boy’s basketball team and worked with a Nimitz football coach to develop her leg strength in preparation for learning to dunk, later meeting with Shaquille O’Neal. In her senior year, she led the Nimitz Cougars to the Texas 5A girls basketball state championship game, losing 52-43 to Mansfield Summit High School. She dunked 52 times in 32 games as a senior, setting a single-game record of 7 dunks against Aldine High School

Houston mayor Bill White then declared May 7, 2009, Brittney Griner Day. Griner then recorded 25 blocks in a game against Houston Alief Hastings, the most ever recorded by a female in a high school game in the US on November 11, 2008. She recorded 318 blocks, a single-season record in her 2008-09 season. Griner was then named a WBCA All-American and took part in the 2009 WBCA High School All-America Game, leading the team by scoring 20 points and collecting 9 rebounds.

A photo of Brittney Griner
A photo of Brittney Griner

How old is Brittney Griner?

Brittney Yevette Griner is aged 31 as of 2021, having been born on October 18, 1990, in Houston, Texas, U.S. She shares her birthday with famous people including Zac Efron, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Berry, Lindsey Vonn, Pierre Trudeau, David Twohy, Joe Morton, and Joy Bryant, among others.

Brittney Griner Family

Who are Brittney Griner’s parents?

Brittney Yevette Griner was born in Houston, Texas to Sandra Griner and her partner Raymond Griner. Information about her father is not disclosed to the media.

Does Brittney Griner have siblings?

Griner was born as the youngest into a family of four children. She has three older siblings, Shkera Griner, Decarlo Griner, and Pier Griner.

Brittney Griner Education

Griner joined and studied at Nimitz High School in Houston, where she played basketball and varsity volleyball. She then joined Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where she went on to play basketball and graduated in 2013.

Brittney Griner Interests

Griner took part in playing basketball in high school as well as varsity volleyball. She also wrote a memoir with Sue Hovey addressing bullying and self-acceptance, In My Skin” My Life On and Off the Basketball Court, published in 2014. This was after she had come out publicly as a lesbian and also to her parents. Her father forced her to live with an assistant coach for six weeks during her senior year in high school.

Brittney Griner Wife

Grine publicly came out as a lesbian on February 11, 2013, in an interview with SI.com. She then revealed her engagement to fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson on August 14, 2014. The lovers were both arrested on charges of assault and disorderly conduct after police responded to a fight between the two in their suburban home in Phoenix, Arizona on April 22, 2015. They had both sustained injuries, however, they married the next month on May 8, 2015, in Phoenix.

They then announced that Johnson was pregnant with twins on June 4, 2015. The next day, and after less than a month of marriage, Griner filed for an annulment of the marriage citing fraud and duress, the annulment was denied. On October 12, 2015, Johnson gave birth to twin girls, 16 weeks premature: they were conceived with her eggs via in vitro fertilization. Griner was then ordered to pay child support to Johnson, and in June 2016, their divorce was finalized.

In August 2018, Griner got engaged to Cherelle Watson and they got married in June 2019. Watson then changed her name to Cherelle Griner.

Brittney Griner Kids

Griner has two children with her ex-partner Glory Johnson, twin daughters. They are Ava Simone and Solei Diem, born on October 12, 2015, 16 weeks premature.

Brittney Griner Height

Griner has an athletic, physically fit, and stunning body. This adds up to an impressive height of 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) and a weight of 93 kg (205 lbs).

College career

Brittney played college basketball at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Her 223 blocked shits set the all-time single-season record as a freshman. This established her as one of the greatest shot blockers in women’s basketball history. She recorded Baylor’s first triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and a Big 12 Conference record 11 blocked shots on December 16, 2009. Griner became only the 7th player to dunk during a women’s college basketball game, and only the 2nd woman to dunk twice in a single college game. This was after she made the second and third dunks of her college career in a lopsided 99-18 win over Texas State University.

Griner and Texas Tech player Jordan Barncastle were battling for position near the lane on March 3, 2010. Griner took two steps forward and threw a right-handed roundhouse punch which broke Barncastle’s nose as a foul was being called on Barncastle. Brittney was then ejected from the game. Lady Bears coach Kim Mulkey later imposed another one-game suspension in addition to the one-game suspension mandated by NCAA rules. Baylor joined the NCAA Tournament as a 4th seed and defeated top-seeded Tennessee in the Sweet 16.

Griner set an NCAA tournament record with 14 blocked shots in a 49-33 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas on March 22. Baylor then beat Duke 51-48 in the Elite Eight, and she blocked 9 shots, totaling 35 for the tournament, a new NCAA Women’s Tournament record. The previous record was held by Duke’s Alison Bales with 30 blocks in the 2006 NCAA Women’s Tournament. The team reached the Final Four, prior to losing to final-champion UConn, 70-50. She was then named an AP Second Team All-American.

2012-2013

Brittney earned First Team All-American honors after averaging 23 points a game, including a career-high 40 points over Green Bay in the Sweet 16 as a sophomore. She averaged 23.2 points, 9. 4 rebounds, and 5 blocks per game in her junior season. Griner blocked more shots than any other Division I women’s team that season. She was then named AP Player of the Year and the 2012 Premier Player of Women’s College Basketball. On April 3, 2012, she led the team with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 block shots to win the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, 80-61 against Notre Dame. She was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. The team completed its undefeated season with 40 wins, the most in NCAA history.

Griner opted to withdraw her candidacy for a roster spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team after winning the championship on April 3, 2012. She broke her wrist following jumping off her skateboard when she was going down a ramp one month later. Her college career came to an end in the 2013 NCAA women’s basketball tournament when Baylor was beaten by the University of Louisville Cardinals in the Sweet 16.

Professional career

WNBA

The only international female players above her height are the late Margo Dydek, at 7 feet 2 inches (2.18 m), and Bernadett Hatar at 6 feet 10.5 inches (2.096 m).

2013

The Phoenix Mercury picked Griner as the first overall selection in the 2013 WNBA Draft. She would flourish in her rookie season, being named a WNBA all-star, and would be a dominant defensive force in the league, averaging 3.0 blocks per game. On May 27, 2013, she equaled the WNBA dunk record in her debut, recording 2 dunks to equal Candice Parker’s career total. Griner then became the third WNBA player to dunk and the first to do so in one game. However, she missed out on the 2013 WNBA All-Star Game with a right knee injury, despite the All-Star vote, being replaced by Tina Thompson. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban stated he would consider drafting Griner to the NBA in April 2013. Despite Griner expressing interest in the opportunity, no offer to try out was extended by the team.

2014

Griner’s state would improve in the 2014 season, as she averaged 15.6 points per game, 8.0 rebounds per game, and 3.7 blocks per game. She had set a WNBA record with 11 blocks in a regular-season game victory over the Tulsa Shock on June 29, 2014, with 21 points and 8 rebounds. Griner then became the first WNBA player to dunk in a playoff game when she assisted the team beat the Los Angeles Sparks, 93-68 at Staples Center on August 24, 2014.

The season became a historic season for the team with the combination of Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, and Candice Dupree as the dominant Big 3 to carry the team. As well as to the arrival of new head coach Sandy Brondello, the Mercury completed 29-5 setting the WNBA record for most victories in a regular season. They proceeded to the WNBA finals and beat the Chicago Sky 3 games to 0, to acquire the team’s third championship in franchise history. During the series, she set WNBA finals records in game 1 for most blocks in a game (8) and most blocks in a quarter (5).

2015

Griner missed out on the first seven games because of a suspension stemming from her domestic violence case in the 2015 season. She had the most prolific defensive season in WNBA history, averaging a career-high and WNBA record 4.0 blocks per game. Griner surpassed Margo Dydek’s record back in the 1998 season. Despite the team playing without their all-star guard Diana, they still proceeded to the playoffs. Griner set a WNBA playoff record with 11 blocks with 18 points and 8 rebounds in a Game 1 win over the Tulsa Shock, whom she also had 11 blocks against in a regular-season game the previous year. The team made it to the second round where they were beaten by the Minnesota Lynx who won the championship that year.

2016

With the return of Diana Taurasi in the 2016 season, the Mercury had a more successful playoff run. Griner averaged 14.5 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game, and 3. 1 blocks per game as the team completed a 16-18 in En route to the playoffs. She had recorded the 6th triple-double in WNBA history winning a victory over the Atlanta Dream, having 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 blocks. The team was the No. 8 seed in the league as they faced the Indiana Fever in the first round with the WNBA’s new playoff format in effect.

The Mercury defeated the Fever in the first round elimination game, as Brittney had 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. In the second round elimination game, they beat the No. 3 seeded New York Liberty, she had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks in the victory. The team proceeded to the semifinals against the championship defending Minnesota Lynx in a best-of-5 series but were beaten 3-0.

2017

Griner re-signed with the Mercury to a multi-year contract when her rookie deal expired on March 12, 2017. She would have the best season of her career thus far in 2017. Griner scored a career-high 38 points with 9 rebounds in a 98-90 overtime victory over the Indiana Fever on June 7, 2017. She would then miss out on 8 games of the season and the 2017 WNBA All-Star Game because of an ankle and knee injury and was replaced by Rebekkah Brunson. However, she completed the season leading the league in scoring with 21.9 points per game and also lead the league in blocks for the fifth consecutive season.

The team completed with an 18-16 record as the No. 5 seed. They beat the Seattle Storm 79-69 in the first round elimination game, proceeding to the second round. Griner scored 23 points with 11 rebounds and 3 blocks in the victory. The team then beat the Connecticut Sun 88-83 in the second-round elimination game, proceeding to the semi-finals. She scored 26 points with 9 rebounds in the victory. The Mercury were eliminated by the Los Angeles Sparks in a 3-game sweep in the semi-finals.

2018

Griner played all 34 games for the third time in her career in 2018. She was then voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game, making it her 5th all-star game appearance. Brittney scored a season-high 33 points along with 18 rebounds and 7 blocks in a 104-95 win against the Atlanta Dream on August 18, 2018. This season was additionally her first season shooting from beyond the arc, also leading the league in blocks for the sixth consecutive year. The team completed off the season 20-14 with the No. 5 seed in the league.

The Mercury beat the Dallas Wings 101-83 in the first-round elimination game. She scored 17 points in the victory. The team then defeated the Connecticut Sun 96-86 in the second-round elimination game. They proceeded to the semi-finals for the third year in a row, where they would face off against the Seattle Storm. Although they were down 2-0, the team returned to tie up the series 2-2. The Mercury lost 94-84 in game 5, ending their season.

2019

Brittney was voted into the 2019 WNBA All-Star Game, in 2019 making it her 6th career all-star game appearance. She scored a season-high 34 points in a 94-86 defeat to the Chicago Sky on August 25, 2019. By the conclusion of the season, she led the league in scoring for the second time in her career. She would go on to lead the league in blocks for the 7th straight season. The team completed with a 15-19 record and the No. 8 seed. They were eliminated 105-76 by the Chicago Sky in the first-round elimination game. Brittney left in the second half of the game because of a knee injury.

2020

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed and shortened the 2020 season to 22 games in a bubble at IMG Academy. Following 12 games played, it was revealed that Brittney had to exit the bubble for undisclosed personal reasons. The team completed 13-9 as the No. 5 seed, without her. The Mercury made it to the second round, where they were defeated by the Minnesota Lynx in the elimination game.

Overseas

Brittney plays overseas in the WNBA off-season. She played in China for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the WCBA in the 2013-14 off-season. Here she signed a 4-month deal for $600,000, which is 12 times the amount she made in her rookie season with the Mercury. Griner played in Russia for UMMC Ekaterinburg with teammate Diana Taurasi, winning back-to-back championships in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 off-seasons. In August 2016, she re-signed with UMMC Ekaterinburg for the 2016-17 off-season. She re-signed again with UMMC Ekaterinburg for the 2017-18 off-season in 2017. In 2018, she went back to UMMC Ekaterinburg for a fifth stint in the 2018-19 off-season.

National team career

Brittney spent two weeks playing under coach Geno Auriemma for the U.S. National Team as part of its European training tour in September 2011. She was the only college player in the group and averaged 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds a game with the team in Europe. Brittney was the only player still playing in college on the 2012 U.S. Olympics women’s basketball team finalists roster. Apart from her, the average age on the finalists’ roster was nearly 30 years, while she was 22 years old at this time. She then opted in April 2012, not to take part in the 2012 Olympics because of family illness and her school schedule.

Griner played for the U.S. Olympics women’s basketball team at the Summer Olympics and received her first Olympics gold medal as they beat Spain 101-72 in the final. She became one of 11 players who have received an Olympic gold medal, FIBA World Cup gold medal, WNBA title, and an NCAA title. Griner joined Swin Cash, Sue Bird, Cynthia Cooper, Maya Moore, Tamika Catchings, Asjha Jones, Sheryl Swoopes, Breanna Stewart, Kara Wolters, and Diana Taurasi on the list. She was later picked for her second Olympics in 2021, going unbeaten and winning the gold medal as part of Team USA.

Britteny Griner Net Worth

American professional basketball player and center for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, Griner has been active from 2013 to the present. She has received numerous awards for her outstanding performance in her basketball career. Griner earns a salary of $228,000 annually and has an estimated net worth of approximately $5 million as of 2022.