By John Marshall
Brittney Griner got emotional quickly.
Speaking to reporters for the first time since a nearly 10-month detainment in Russia on drug-related charges, the WNBA star had to take a moment to compose herself after being asked about her resiliency through the ordeal.
“I'm no stranger to hard times,” Griner said Thursday from the lobby of the Footprint Center, home of the Phoenix Mercury and the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. “Just digging deep. You're going to be faced with adversities in life. This was a pretty big one. I just relied on my hard work to get through it.”
Griner's first news conference drew more than 100 people, including Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, members of the Mercury organization and her wife, Cherelle.
Griner was arrested in February 2022 at a Moscow airport after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
After nearly 10 months of strained negotiations between Washington and Moscow, Griner was exchanged in the United Arab Emirates for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout on Dec. 8.
Griner kept a low profile following her return to the U.S. while adjusting to life back at home, outside of appearances at the Super Bowl, the PGA Tour's Phoenix Open and an MLK Day event in Phoenix.
Kayla McDonald, 19, a budding collegiate gymnast, is paving her own path and doing it with some history tacked along.
Cheddar News checks in on what to look out for on The Day Ahead. March Madness continues with the remaining Sweet 16 teams in the tournament while 'John Wick 4' makes its debut in theaters nationwide.
Willis Reed, who dramatically emerged from the locker room minutes before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to spark the New York Knicks to their first championship and create one of sports’ most enduring examples of playing through pain, has died. He was 80.
Shohei Ohtani emerged from the bullpen and fanned Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out in a matchup the whole baseball world wanted to see, leading Japan over the defending champion United States 3-2 for its first World Baseball Classic title since 2009.
No. 1 seed Indiana Hoosiers have been eliminated from the March Madness women's tournament.
Fanatics is now the official jersey supplier of the National Hockey League, replacing Adidas, and the deal will kick off in the 2024-2025 season.
The NCAA men's tournament is down to the Sweet 16, which kicks off on Thursday.
Trea Turner, Paul Goldschmidt and an unrelenting U.S. lineup kept putting crooked numbers on the scoreboard, a dynamic display of the huge gap between an American team of major leaguers and Cubans struggling on the world stage as top players have left the island nation.
The top four seeds in the tournament were given to South Carolina, Indiana, Virginia Tech and Stanford — and the Cardinal was the first to bow out.
March Madness is heading to the Sweet 16 without a handful of top teams. Two No. 1 seeds, Kansas and Purdue, No. 2 seed Arizona and No. 4 seed Virginia are all gone — and gone with them are millions of busted brackets.
