Brittney Griner to miss 2 games due to mental health reasons: All you need to know

Brittney Griner has been a bit of a trending figure in the WNBA since her return to the game. However, after her long period of absence, the Phoenix Mercury superstar is expected to miss the next two games for mental health reasons.

Griner is widely considered one of the most popular players in the WNBA. Coming off a dominant couple of seasons, Griner was on track to becoming a superstar in the league. Unfortunately, the last year has been a challenge for the Mercury center.

Griner rose in popularity last year for all the wrong reasons. After being caught for possession of an illegal substance, she was detained in Russia for nine months. Needless to say, that caused quite an uproar in the US, as well as the basketball community.

However, the Mercury star center resumed her basketball activity almost immediately on arrival in the States. In 20 games for Phoenix this season, Griner has shown a lot of promise, but she's expected to be unavailable for the upcoming games against the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever.

The Phoenix Mercury released a statement regarding Griner's absence:

"Mercury center Brittney Griner will not travel with the team on its upcoming two-game road trip to Chicago and Indiana (July 30-August 1) to focus on her mental health. The Mercury fully support Brittney, and we will continue to work together on a timeline for her return."

Griner's decision to focus on her mental health is quite understandable. After a significant amount of time spent being detained in Russia, it's evident that there's some degree of unresolved trauma. The Mercury's approach in this regard is quite positive.

However, Phoenix aren't necessarily in a position to be without one of their best players. With a 6-17 record, the Mercury are among the lowest ranked teams in the league.

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Brittney Griner was harassed at an airport

In June, Brittney Griner was subjected to harassment by a Youtuber, who was hoping to get a rise out of the Mercury star. The incident occurred when the team was flying from Dallas to Indiana.

Griner came out and spoke about the matter and even called out the WNBA for not given players enough protection on commercial flights. In light of these incidents, the WNBA brought up the topic of chartered flights for players.

That has often been pushed aside due to cost issues, but it seems like a public service called JSX is in use now.