In addition to other awards, Brittney Griner has won the WNBA Championship in 2014, WNBA Scoring Champion in 2017, and WNBA Scoring Champion in 2019. The gold medal she won with Team USA at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is her most well-known accomplishment.
She also won a gold medal for Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan.
In addition, Brittney won a gold medal with Team USA at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Championships in Turkey and Spain in 2014 and 2018, respectively.
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Which College Attended by Brittney Griner?
While attending Baylor University in Waco, Texas, she played for the NCAA’s Baylor Lady Bears. She was chosen first overall by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2013 first round. She currently plays for the same WNBA squad.
She stands 6 feet 9 inches tall and plays centre for her team.
Did Brittney Griner Earn a Baylor Degree?
Former Lady Bears centre Brittney Griner said she finished her Baylor education in July. After guiding Baylor to their second national championship and a 40-0 record, Brittney Griner was named the 2012 AP National Player of the Year.
Five facts about Brittney Griner: Titles with Baylor and Mercury, as well as problems on and off the court
Brittney Griner has been one of the best interior players in women’s basketball for the entirety of her time playing for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA and Baylor in college.
1. Success at Baylor
Griner made her Baylor debut as the freshman dunk sensation, but she quickly expanded into much more for the Lady Bears’ programme. Griner finished his four-year Baylor career with 3,283 points, 1,305 rebounds, 748 blocks, and a 57 percent field goal percentage.
In 2012, she steered Baylor to a perfect 40-0 record that resulted in an NCAA title. Baylor had a 135-15 record while playing in Waco.
2. Fights During Games
Griner’s first season at Baylor was jam-packed with memorable contests and high points as the 19-year-old quickly rose to the top of the college game. However, one of the low points of her basketball career was one of the most memorable moments from her freshman year.
Griner punched Jordan Barncastle of the Red Raiders during a defeat to Texas Tech, breaking her nose. For the incident, Griner received a two-game suspension. Her one-game NCAA suspension was followed by a second game suspension from then-Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, who expressed her “great disappointment” in the incident.
Mulkey argued that Brittney Griner shouldn’t be characterised by this incident, either as a person or a player. She’s a great kid, as anyone who has been around her will attest… She’ll probably learn from this error and do better in the future, in my opinion.
Although Griner hasn’t engaged in any on-court fights as significant as the one she got into when she was 19 years old throughout her career, she has.
3. WNBA and Olympic Triumph
In the WNBA draught in 2013, Griner was selected first overall after graduating from Baylor. She will soon begin her tenth WNBA season this summer. It’ll be another big year for Griner if year 10 is anything like years one through nine.
She boasts 17.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game for her entire career. She has earned two league Defensive Player of the Year awards and has been selected six times to the WNBA All-Defensive team and five times to the All-WNBA team.
The WNBA’s most productive dunker is Griner. The 205-pound, 6-9 centre has 12 dunks in his career.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, the rest of the league had only managed three regular season dunks through 23 seasons going into the 2021 season. Only Griner and Candace Parker have slammed the ball multiple times in the WNBA.
4. Criticisms of Mulkey and Baylor
While Griner gained notoriety at Baylor, she acknowledged that her time in Waco wasn’t entirely pleasant in her memoir, In My Skin. Griner describes her falling out with coach Mulkey and the disagreements she had with the university in her book.
Here are a few passages from them. “I would love to represent Baylor and show my school pride, but it’s difficult to do so when the administration has a policy against homosexuality. It’s difficult to stand up and proclaim, “Baylor is the best!”
I’ve been made to feel that there is something wrong with me for far too long in my life. And no matter how much encouragement I received while playing basketball at Baylor, it still doesn’t take away from the hurt I experienced there.
Underneath the surface, there were cracks. And the pressure-filled game against Louisville blew those fissures wide open. Kim won the coaching battle because I didn’t perform as I usually did. We both performed poorly.
That evening, after almost four years of creating something magical, we watched, at times feeling almost helpless, as it vanished. We were left staring at all the negative aspects of each other that drove us insane.
And we didn’t have a national title, the shiny object, to take our minds off of that fact. After an article in Sports Illustrated quoted Griner as saying that Mulkey advised her to keep her sexuality a secret so Baylor’s recruiting wouldn’t be harmed by any potential public backlash, tensions between Griner and Baylor skyrocketed.
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5. Dispute about Domestic Violence
Glory Johnson, a former forward for the Dallas Wings, was a fellow WNBA player who Griner married in 2015. The couple was arrested on April 22, 2015, for a domestic violence incident before getting married, and each was suspended for seven games as a result.
When it announced the suspensions, the league issued a lengthy statement on the subject. “A physical altercation between Brittney and Glory took place at their home. The incident started when Glory shoved Brittney in the shoulder and Brittney hit Glory in the neck, according to the league’s statement.
“As the argument heated up, various objects were thrown and swung, along with wrestling and punches. Glory received a scratch above her lip and was identified as having a concussion, while Brittney sustained bite wounds on her finger and scratches on her wrist.
“After careful consideration of all the relevant facts and circumstances, we are suspending Glory Johnson and Brittney Griner for a total of seven regular-season games, each without pay. The behaviour of Brittney and Glory is against the WNBA’s best interests and is illegal.
We also recognise that learning from mistakes is just as important as enforcing discipline and that people make mistakes. As a result, each player will have to go to individual counselling sessions with a therapist who meets the WNBA’s standards.
We reserve the right to review this matter again if either player violates this condition or any other requirements set forth by the court.
