'Welcome back' -- Griner marks WNBA homecoming with VP on hand - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — With Vice President Kamala Harris and 10,396 fans in attendance, Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner was officially welcomed back to the WNBA Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Griner was playing in her first official game since returning to the United States after being wrongfully detained for 10 months in Russia last year. As the WNBA started its 27th season Friday, Griner smiled broadly, acknowledging the fans who gave her a standing ovation, the Sparks and her Mercury teammates, as she made her much-anticipated return in Phoenix's 94-71 loss to Los Angeles. She finished with 18 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots in 25 minutes.

Harris met with both teams in their locker rooms before the game.

«Thank you for all that you did in supporting Brittney,» the vice president told the Mercury. «I know that was rough and so difficult.» Harris also talked about how «team is family» and how important it was that they kept «her story alive» while she was in Russia.

Los Angeles star and WNBA players union executive committee president Nneka Ogwumike presented Harris with a Sparks jersey and thanked her.

«Tonight is a game, but we're also celebrating the return of one of our own, and what the Biden administration did to make that happen is really important,» Ogwumike said. «We know that wasn't easy. But we want to say thank you so much for us to be able to play against BG tonight.»

Tennis legend Billie Jean King, Lakers coach Darvin Ham and league commissioner Cathy Engelbert were all on hand for Friday's game, too.

For Griner, 32, it's her 10th season in the league and one she may have thought was never going to happen.

Griner was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport in February 2022 when she was