Brittney Griner is primed to play her first WNBA regular-season basketball game on Friday — the first time since October 2021.
Of course, the dominant headlines surrounding Griner over the last year-plus have revolved around her detainment in Russia after she was charged with drug smuggling by customs officials. Her arrest not only became an international headline but also kept her from the sport that made her an icon.
So, it's worth reminding casual basketball fans that Griner is one of the most dominant women's basketball players of her generation, or any generation. She first earned that status in high school and has continuously lived up to the billing in college, WNBA, Olympic and overseas play.
Indeed, Griner's trophy shelf at this point is overrun with awards she has earned throughout her playing career; her appearance on numerous record books is frequently occurring.
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With that, The Sporting News looks into just how good Griner is, looking at her records, stats and awards throughout her high school, college and WNBA careers:
Brittney Griner high school stats, awards
Even in high school, Griner drew attention as one of the country's premier up-and-coming women's basketball players. During her junior season at Chester W. Nimitz Senior High School (Houston), a video of her dunking in practice garnered 6.6 million views on YouTube.
Griner led the Cougars to the Texas 5A girl's state championship game as a senior, though they lost 52-43 to Mansfield Summit High School (Arlington, Texas). She finished the season dunking 52 times in 32 games, including a high school single-game-record seven dunks against Aldine High School (Houston).
Her high school stats vary by source, but Griner's player bio at Baylor lists her as having averaged 33.0 points (1,290 total), 15.5 rebounds (608), 11.7 blocks (459), 3.4 steals (136) and 3.1 assists (122) per game as a senior. She also finished with several records following her high school career, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations:
- 794 career blocks (fifth)
- 25 blocked shots in a single game (first)
- 318 blocked shots in a season (first)
Of note: The NFHS and Baylor list different totals for her blocks as a senior (318 vs. 459, respectively.
Regardless, Griner was the unanimous No. 1 recruit in the country coming out of high school in 2009, garnering several state and national awards:
- Parade Player of the Year
- Parade All-American
- Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Player of the Year
- USA Today Player of the Year
- USA Today All-American
- Gatorade's Texas Girls' Player of the Year
- Miss Basketball by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC)
- McDonald's All-American
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Brittney Griner Baylor stats, awards
Even as a freshman, Griner was immediately among the team's best players. She set an NCAA record, regardless of division, with 223 blocked shots and also had the program's first triple-double in program history with a 34-point, 13-rebound, 11-block game, vs. Oral Roberts. She also became only the seventh player to dunk during a women's college basketball game.
Griner lived up to the hype at Baylor, where she played and started 148 games. The pinnacle of her team success came as a junior in 2011-12, when she helped coach Kim Mulkey win the 2012 NCAA women's tournament: The 80-61 victory over Notre Dame in the championship game capped a 40-0 season. Griner's college career ended the following season with a Sweet 16 loss to Louisville.
Here are her year-by-year stats at Baylor:
| Year | PPG | FG% | APG | RPG | BPG |
| 2009-10 | 18.4 | 50.3 | 1.0 | 8.5 | 6.3 |
| 2010-11 | 23.0 | 54.3 | 1.4 | 7.8 | 4.6 |
| 2011-12 | 23.2 | 60.9 | 1.6 | 9.5 | 5.2 |
| 2012-13 | 23.8 | 60.7 | 2.4 | 9.4 | 4.1 |
Griner's name is all over the Baylor, Big 12 and NCAA record books. So here are the records she either set or tied in her four years in college:
- 748 career blocks (NCAA, men's or women's)
- 18 career dunks (NCAA women's)
- Three single-game dunks (NCAA women's)
- 3,283 career points (Big 12)
- 787 career free throws (Big 12)
- 1,247 career field goals (Big 12)
- Triple-doubles (Big 12, tied)
- 63 career double-doubles (Baylor)
- 56.9 field goal percentage (Baylor)
And here are the honors she accrued while in college:
- Big 12 Freshman of the Year (2010)
- USBWA Freshman of the Year (2010)
- Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (2010-13)
- WBCA Defensive Player of the Year (2011-13)
- All-Big 12 first team (2010-13)
- Big 12 Player of the Year (2011-13)
- Second-team All-American (AP — 2010)
- First-team All-American (AP — 2012, 2013)
- Wade Trophy (2012, 2013)
- Naismith Trophy (2012, 2013)
- Wooden Award (2012, 2013)
- AP Player of the Year (2012, 2013)
- USBWA Player of the Year (2012, 2013)
- NCAA champion (2012)
- NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (2012)
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Brittney Griner WNBA stats, awards
Following her stellar collegiate career, Griner once again became the top player of her class, this time in the 2013 WNBA Draft. She was selected first overall by the Phoenix Mercury, where she has played every year of her professional career.
It took only one game for Griner to tie the WNBA record for career dunks; she did so twice in her debut against the Chicago Sky, equaling Candace Parker's career total. She was also the first player in WNBA history to dunk more than once in a game.
The next season, Griner, Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree helped lead the Mercury to the franchise's third WNBA Finals championship, setting a WNBA record for wins amid a 29-5 season. The next season, Griner set the WNBA mark by averaging 4.0 blocks per game.
Apart from her myriad awards, Griner is also a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015, becoming the first player to win it in Mercury franchise history. She is also the first player to win it since Tamika Catchings in 2009 and 2010, and one of five players in WNBA history to win the award in consecutive seasons.
Griner is also the most prolific dunker in the history of the WNBA, owning 12 of 15 career dunks in WNBA regular-season history and 18 of 31 dunks in regular-season, playoff or All-Star game history. A seven-time WNBA All-Star, Griner is also the only true center in WNBA history to lead the league in scoring, which she did in 2017 and 2019.
Griner is also a four-time gold medalist for Team USA, winning two each in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games and 2014 and 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.
| Year | PPG | FG% | APG | RPG | BPG |
| 2013* | 12.6 | 55.6 | 1.0 | 6.3 | 3.0 |
| 2014* | 15.6 | 57.8 | 1.6 | 8.0 | 3.8 |
| 2015* | 15.1 | 56.5 | 1.3 | 8.1 | 4.0 |
| 2016 | 14.5 | 54.8 | 1.0 | 6.5 | 3.1 |
| 2017* | 21.9 | 57.7 | 1.9 | 5.9 | 2.5 |
| 2018* | 20.5 | 54.4 | 2.1 | 5.9 | 2.6 |
| 2019* | 20.7 | 56.4 | 3.4 | 7.2 | 2.0 |
| 2021* | 20.5 | 57.5 | 2.7 | 9.5 | 1.9 |
* All-Star
Here are the awards she has accumulated during her nine years in the WNBA:
- WNBA All-Rookie Team (2013)
- WNBA All-Star (2013-2015, 2017-2019, 2021)
- WNBA blocks leader (2013-2019, 2021)
- WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award (2014, 2015)
- WNBA All-Defensive First Team (2014, 2015, 2018)
- All-WNBA First Team (2014, 2019, 2021)
- All-WNBA Second Team (2015, 2017, 2018)
- WNBA All-Defensive Second Team (2016, 2017, 2019, 2021)
- WNBA scoring champion (2017, 2019)
- WNBA Peak Performer (2017, 2019)
- WNBA 25th Anniversary Team (2021)
- WNBA champion (2014)