THE CULTURAL ROADMAP FOR CITY GIRLS EVERYWHERE

THE CULTURAL ROADMAP FOR CITY GIRLS EVERYWHERE

Trending

5 Things To Know About Unrivaled Star Brittney Griner: From Baylor Legend To Global Icon

January 30, 2025

Brittney Griner at ACLU SoCal Bill Of Rights Dinner

Inspiring and influential, here's everything GOated about the one and only BG.

In a league where 18 out of 36 players are out as LGBTQ+, Unrivaled is just the beginning of many more groundbreaking and exciting things to come for queer athletes. For queer women’s basketball superfans who’ve long been shooting their shots or newbies who are breaking their ankles to learn all the lore about one of the gayest professional sports leagues, we’re highlighting all the GOated things about its queer players that make them the greatest. This week, we’re spotlighting one of the most decorated and dominant players of the league, Brittney Griner, aka BG.

Balling at Baylor

As an incoming six-foot-nine freshman at Baylor University, Griner quickly proved herself to be a player to watch. She won the league’s Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2010, only to go on and sweep the Player and Defensive Player of the Year Awards in 2011, 2012, and 2013 like it was nothing. She finished her legendary college career with 3,283 points and 1,305 rebounds. Despite being one of the most decorated student-athletes at Baylor, Griner had a complicated relationship with her Baptist alma mater. She spoke out against the school’s policies that prevented her from being open about her identity as a lesbian a year after she left the college in 2014. She retired her iconic No.42 jersey at Baylor in February of 2024, which she described as a “full-circle moment.” A school that once didn’t fully embrace her now acknowledged her as a part of Baylor Bear history.

Related: Everything You Need To Know About The Unrivaled Basketball League

Golden Griner

Still thriving and shattering records, there’s no doubt Griner is one of the most dominant centers in WNBA history. Her impressive shot-blocking and basketball scoring abilities have made her the lead of the league eight times. As a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, 10-time WNBA All-Star, and three-time Olympic gold medalist, she has averaged 17.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.6 blocked shots. Drafted first overall in the 2013 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury, she’s spent her entire career playing in Phoenix but has recently made a free-agency decision. In an Instagram post, Griner announced she will be signing with the Atlanta Dream for one year, a decision that will be made official on February 1 During this off-season, she’s playing on the Phantom team in Unrivaled. Phoenix will miss BG, but this new chapter in her career will be an exciting rebrand.

Baby Bash

On July 8, 2024, Griner and her wife, Cherelle, welcomed their first child Bash into the world. This new chapter of her life as a parent has made her vocal about embracing non-traditional parenting roles, where she shared she prefers to be called “pops” by Bash, rather than “mom.” She’s also been open in sharing the emotional difficulty of being away from her newborn because of her traveling career as an athlete. Newly posted content of the couple and their baby on Instagram has been heartwarming and has left fans awe-ing about this couple’s new parenting era. 

Pioneer of Change 

In February of 2022 at a Moscow Airport, Griner was arrested after a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis. She was sentenced to nine years in a Russian labor camp, where her case received global attention. WNBA players started online movements calling for her release, and the WNBA Players Association said in a statement, “She is very clearly a hostage.” Griner was finally released after spending nearly 10 months in prison and continues to advocate for other American prisoners wrongfully detained overseas.

Author Era

When she’s not on the court, Griner is putting pen to paper. Her first book, released in 2014, In My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court, details her life as an athlete and activist in the WNBA. Her second book, Coming Home, was recently released in 2024 and details the dehumanizing and traumatizing conditions she experienced during her ten months in the Russian labor camp. These New York Times bestselling books are a must-read. Griner’s willingness to be vulnerable and share her harrowing story proves she has always been bigger than basketball.

Related: Everything GOated About Breanna Stewart: 5 Things To Know About The Unrivaled Star Player

Calendar of Events

M Mon

T Tue

W Wed

T Thu

F Fri

S Sat

S Sun

4 events,

8 events,

7 events,

Recurring

Femme House

10 events,

7 events,

THIQUE

7 events,

YUMMY! at The Bush

8 events,

-

Queer Brown Babes

5 events,

5 events,

7 events,

-

Queer Connections After Work

Recurring

Femme House

12 events,

-

Threads Reimagined

9 events,

Thirst Quench at The Bush

10 events,

-

Lesbian Love Letters

Fearless Queers Self-Defense Fundamentals

12 events,

6 events,

11 events,

-

Queer Book Group with Alex

- Recurring

Queer Voices Sung

12 events,

Recurring

Femme House

9 events,

9 events,

6 events,

-

A Galentine Gaycation