Brittney Griner returning to Phoenix Mercury

After spending 10 months detained in Russia, WNBA star Brittney Griner is set to return to the Phoenix Mercury after signing a one-year contract with the team, according to multiple reports.

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The 6-foot-9 center was listed Sunday on the Phoenix Mercury’s online roster, although no official announcement had been made. An unidentified source told ESPN that Griner signed a $165,100 contract with the Mercury on Saturday.

Griner was a free agent and last played for the Mercury in 2021, when she helped the team get to the WNBA finals, The Associated Press reported. She averaged 20.5 points and a career-high of 9.5 rebounds per game that year, according to ESPN.

She missed the 2022 WNBA season after being arrested in February 2022 at a Moscow-area airport. She played during the WNBA offseason for the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg, according to The Washington Post.

Griner later pleaded guilty to bringing vape cartridges with cannabis oil into the country and was sentenced to 9 1/2 years, the Post reported. The State Department deemed her to be “wrongfully detained” and launched negotiations aimed at bringing her home.

In December, Griner returned to the U.S. after being released in a prisoner swap that saw the release of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Officials attempted to also secure the release of Paul Whelan, an American who has been jailed on espionage charges in Russia since 2018, but they were unsuccessful.

After her release, Griner said she intended to play for the Mercury again.

“I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon,” she wrote in a post on Instagram.

Griner was drafted No. 1 by the Mercury in 2013, according to the AP. She has spent her entire WNBA career with the team, the Post reported.

Her re-signing was first reported by Her Hoop Stats.

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