Key dates in the career and case of Brittney Griner

FILE – Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury plays in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals against the Chicago Sky on Oct. 13, 2021 (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)

Here are the key dates in Brittney Griner’s life and career, as well as the events that led to the basketball player’s arrest and release in Russia.

October 18, 1990: Brittney Griner is born in Houston

2009: Leads Led Nimitz High School to the Texas State Final in Category 5A, which the team loses. The 6-foot-7 (2-meter) player dunks 52 as a senior, including seven in a game against Aldine.

2009-10: Sets the single-season record with 223 caps as a rookie at Baylor. She becomes the seventh woman to dunk in college basketball.

2011-12: Leads Baylor to a 40-0 record and is named The Associated Press Player of the Year after averaging 23.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and five blocks.

April 3, 2012: Add 26 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks in the NCAA final, where Baylor beat Notre Dame 80-61. She wins the award for Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four round.

April 15, 2013: She is the first overall pick in the WNBA draft. She is recruited by the Phoenix Mercury.

2014: Guides Phoenix to a 29-5 season, the most wins in WNBA history. The team wins the league championship for the third time in its history.

August 14, 2014: Gets engaged to Glory Johnson, another WNBA player. Eight months later, both are arrested on charges of assault and disturbance of the public peace after the police intervene in a fight between the two.

May 15, 2015 – Griner and Johnson are suspended seven games by the WNBA after pleading guilty to charges of disturbing the peace.

2015 and 2016: Play in Russia for UMMC Yekaterinburg and win back-to-back titles with that club. He has played over the winter on that team ever since.

August 20, 2016: Help the United States win its sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal, at the Games in Rio de Janeiro.

June 18, 2019: Marries Cherelle Griner.

August 8, 2021: Help the United States win their seventh straight gold at the Tokyo Olympics. He averages 16.5 points to lead the team.

February 17, 2022: She is arrested for drug possession at an airport on the outskirts of Moscow, while returning to Russia to rejoin her team after a break to play in the FIBA ​​World Cup qualifiers. Customs agents indicate that they had found containers of electronic cigarette liquid in her luggage.

July 1, 2022: His trial begins in a court outside Moscow.

July 7, 2022: Pleads guilty to drug possession. “I didn’t mean to do it, I didn’t want to break the law,” he says.

August 4, 2022: Sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession.

October 25, 2022: A Russian court rejects the appeal against the prison sentence.

October 17, 2022: Griner is transferred to a penal colony in the western Russian region of Mordovia.

December 8, 2022: Russia frees Griner in a prisoner swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout.

We wish to give thanks to the author of this short article for this amazing content

Key dates in the career and case of Brittney Griner