Basketball questions were sparse during Brittney Griner's first WNBA postgame press conference in more than a year and a half. No inquiries about how she managed the lead the Phoenix Mercury in scoring after not playing for 579 days.
In their place, naturally, were questions about how her 10 months of detention in Russia changed her. Griner didn't share much in her responses. At one point, she teased that she'll have more to say in the memoir she's writing.
MORE: Timeline of WNBA star's arrest in Russia, detainment, prisoner exchange, return to U.S.
She did give one expansive answer. It was a response to Jemele Hill of The Atlantic, who asked Griner why she is now standing for the national anthem after previously advocating for it to not be played or performed at WNBA games.
Why is Brittney Griner standing for the national anthem now?
At the heart of Griner's answer was her experience of being imprisoned in a foreign country for almost a year and not knowing when or if she would get out. As she said during the preseason, the anthem "hits different" now.
MORE: Brittney Griner anthem protests, revisited
"One good thing about this country is you have the right to protest. You have the right to be able to speak out, question, challenge and do all these things," Griner said. "What I went through and everything, it just means a little bit more to me now, so I want to be able to stand. I was literally in a cage and could not stand the way I wanted to, and a lot of other different situations. Just being able to hear my national anthem, see my flag, I definitely I want to stand."
She also said she respects those who still want to boycott the anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice.
"Now, everybody that will not stand or not come out, I totally support them 100 percent. We're fighting a good cause. Nothing to any of the ladies that choose not to — or anybody — that's our right as an American in this great country," she said. "Sometimes, when it doesn't go the way other people want it to go, you get labeled as not American or something like that. I think it makes you more American, because it's your right."
MORE: Griner emotional in first remarks since release: 'I'm no stranger to hard times'
Brittney Griner arrest timeline
Griner was arrested in February 2022 after flying back to Russia from a FIBA tournament in the U.S. She was playing for a team in Russia's professional league at the time. Customs officials discovered in her luggage two vape cartridges that contained hashish oil. She was charged with drug possession and drug smuggling. Griner pleaded guilty in July 2022 and was sentenced to nine years in prison. She was freed last December as part of a prisoner exchange. Russia received arms dealer Viktor Bout, aka the "Merchant of Death."
Griner's rising for the anthem Friday was part of an emotional pregame at Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena that also included a visit with Vice President Kamala Harris and a standing ovation by spectators during pregame warmups.
The Phoenix center finished with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting in a 94-71 loss to the Sparks.