Photo by: USA Basketball
FROM X GAMES DREAMS TO OLYMPIC REALITY
7/22/2021 9:06:00 AM | General, Women's Basketball
Former Baylor All-American Griner Playing for USA Basketball
(This is the third in a series of features profiling former Baylor student-athletes "Going for the Gold" at the Olympics that begin with opening ceremonies on Friday in Tokyo.)
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Brittney Griner never really dreamed about playing basketball in the Olympics. She was more about the X Games.
"I was all into skateboarding and the BMX stuff," she said. "If you would have asked me back then, 7-year-old BG, I probably would have said, 'Oh, yeah, I'm going to go to the X Games and I'm going to do the half-pipe or something.' The Olympics were never in my mind back then."
Griner never made it to the X Games, but the former three-time All-American at Baylor is making her second appearance in the Olympics with a USA Basketball team that has won six-consecutive gold medals and eight of the last nine, dating back to 1984.
As the daughter of former U.S. Marine Raymond Griner, a retired Harris County deputy sheriff, Griner said wearing the USA uniform "means everything to me."
"My dad served in the military, Marines, he was in Vietnam in '68-69," she said. "And I always kind of wanted to follow in his footsteps when I was younger. I thought I was going to go into law enforcement as well, or maybe even enlist. That didn't really happen, basketball was my calling. So now, to be able to put on (the USA jersey) and represent my country in that way, it means everything to me. It means everything to my dad and our family."
A finalist for the 2012 London Olympics, the same year she led Baylor to a 40-0 national championship, Griner withdrew her name from consideration on April 19 due to a family illness. She later confirmed that her mother had been diagnosed with lupus and she had a "fear of being away from what was going on at home."
"That was a hard decision," she said. "Sitting there, just missing out, like, 'Dang, I wish I was there.'''
Four years later, she got that chance with a stacked USA team that included established veterans like Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus, Diana Taurasi, Tamika Catchings and Tina Charles.
Despite playing the fourth-fewest minutes on the team (15.9 per game), the 6-foot-9 center averaged 9.8 points and led the gold-medal-winning squad with 5.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
"That first time, I was a kid with big eyes, honestly," said Griner, who's now 30 and playing her ninth season with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury. "It's the Olympics, it's the highest level of basketball you can get to, or really in any sport. And I had all these people in front of me: Sylvia, Sue, D (Taurasi). I was like, 'OK, I just want to follow and do what they're doing.'''
While Bird, Taurasi, Fowles and Charles are still around, Griner and Breanna Stewart are part of a newer wave that includes Jewell Loyd, A'ja Wilson, Airel Atkins, Napheesa Collier, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Chelsea Gray.
"I'm not going to sit here and say I was rock hard, not nervous at all. There were definitely nerves," Griner said of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "But now, I know what to expect, I know how it's going to go, I know what I need to do. When you're prepared, it's like putting on your shoes. I've done two World (Championships), to Turkey and then Spain, and then Rio, so I feel like I've really adjusted and ready to push back and have no nerves."
The first overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft after a record-shattering career at Baylor, Griner was part of Phoenix's 2014 championship team and has been a seven-time WNBA all-star. She's also played overseas with teams in China and Russia, winning a pair of EuroLeague titles.
But last year, she left the WNBA bubble in Bradenton, Fla., for "personal reasons" and has talked openly about seeking counseling for mental health issues.
"It was a tough year, there was just so much going on," she said. "I don't do well in isolation, so it's something I've really had to work on. Last year, it's no secret, I definitely reached out and used counseling. I did there at Baylor, too, a couple times. It really helped me out with coping and having little tools where I know, 'OK, I need to check in right now.' It helped prepare me to go over to Tokyo with no fans there, no loved ones, no guests can come. But, I feel like I have a good support system and tools where I'm going to be good."
Playing for a USA team that has been unbeatable, Griner goes in knowing the team has a "big target on our back."
"People get up just to come close to trying to beat us," she said. "Even just scoring on us, you can see the reaction from the crowd and from the players. Everybody gets up to play against USA, so you're going to get the best of the best and the best shot from every single team and every single player."
It's a feeling that Griner knows all too well. After the 40-0 run in 2012, the Lady Bears were upset by Louisville the next year in the Sweet 16.
"When we went 40-0, we knew we were going to get the best shot from everybody," said Griner, who is still the only collegiate player to score 2,000 points and block 500 shots. "Everybody wanted to snap that record."
Griner said she's excited to see what former Atlanta Dream head coach Nicki Collen will do at Baylor after Hall of Fame coach Kim Mulkey left for the LSU job.
"She's amazing," Griner said of Collen. "I think she's really going to get the girls going. She just brings a different style than Kim. I love Nicki. I always liked playing against her. I can't want to come out and see her. Hopefully, I can catch a game or something before I go back over to Russia. I really want to get down there."
"GOING FOR THE GOLD"
John Peers, Men's Tennis, Australia
Wil London, Track & Field, USA
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Brittney Griner never really dreamed about playing basketball in the Olympics. She was more about the X Games.
"I was all into skateboarding and the BMX stuff," she said. "If you would have asked me back then, 7-year-old BG, I probably would have said, 'Oh, yeah, I'm going to go to the X Games and I'm going to do the half-pipe or something.' The Olympics were never in my mind back then."
Griner never made it to the X Games, but the former three-time All-American at Baylor is making her second appearance in the Olympics with a USA Basketball team that has won six-consecutive gold medals and eight of the last nine, dating back to 1984.
As the daughter of former U.S. Marine Raymond Griner, a retired Harris County deputy sheriff, Griner said wearing the USA uniform "means everything to me."
"My dad served in the military, Marines, he was in Vietnam in '68-69," she said. "And I always kind of wanted to follow in his footsteps when I was younger. I thought I was going to go into law enforcement as well, or maybe even enlist. That didn't really happen, basketball was my calling. So now, to be able to put on (the USA jersey) and represent my country in that way, it means everything to me. It means everything to my dad and our family."
A finalist for the 2012 London Olympics, the same year she led Baylor to a 40-0 national championship, Griner withdrew her name from consideration on April 19 due to a family illness. She later confirmed that her mother had been diagnosed with lupus and she had a "fear of being away from what was going on at home."
"That was a hard decision," she said. "Sitting there, just missing out, like, 'Dang, I wish I was there.'''
Four years later, she got that chance with a stacked USA team that included established veterans like Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus, Diana Taurasi, Tamika Catchings and Tina Charles.
Despite playing the fourth-fewest minutes on the team (15.9 per game), the 6-foot-9 center averaged 9.8 points and led the gold-medal-winning squad with 5.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
"That first time, I was a kid with big eyes, honestly," said Griner, who's now 30 and playing her ninth season with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury. "It's the Olympics, it's the highest level of basketball you can get to, or really in any sport. And I had all these people in front of me: Sylvia, Sue, D (Taurasi). I was like, 'OK, I just want to follow and do what they're doing.'''
While Bird, Taurasi, Fowles and Charles are still around, Griner and Breanna Stewart are part of a newer wave that includes Jewell Loyd, A'ja Wilson, Airel Atkins, Napheesa Collier, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Chelsea Gray.
"I'm not going to sit here and say I was rock hard, not nervous at all. There were definitely nerves," Griner said of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "But now, I know what to expect, I know how it's going to go, I know what I need to do. When you're prepared, it's like putting on your shoes. I've done two World (Championships), to Turkey and then Spain, and then Rio, so I feel like I've really adjusted and ready to push back and have no nerves."
The first overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft after a record-shattering career at Baylor, Griner was part of Phoenix's 2014 championship team and has been a seven-time WNBA all-star. She's also played overseas with teams in China and Russia, winning a pair of EuroLeague titles.
But last year, she left the WNBA bubble in Bradenton, Fla., for "personal reasons" and has talked openly about seeking counseling for mental health issues.
"It was a tough year, there was just so much going on," she said. "I don't do well in isolation, so it's something I've really had to work on. Last year, it's no secret, I definitely reached out and used counseling. I did there at Baylor, too, a couple times. It really helped me out with coping and having little tools where I know, 'OK, I need to check in right now.' It helped prepare me to go over to Tokyo with no fans there, no loved ones, no guests can come. But, I feel like I have a good support system and tools where I'm going to be good."
Playing for a USA team that has been unbeatable, Griner goes in knowing the team has a "big target on our back."
"People get up just to come close to trying to beat us," she said. "Even just scoring on us, you can see the reaction from the crowd and from the players. Everybody gets up to play against USA, so you're going to get the best of the best and the best shot from every single team and every single player."
It's a feeling that Griner knows all too well. After the 40-0 run in 2012, the Lady Bears were upset by Louisville the next year in the Sweet 16.
"When we went 40-0, we knew we were going to get the best shot from everybody," said Griner, who is still the only collegiate player to score 2,000 points and block 500 shots. "Everybody wanted to snap that record."
Griner said she's excited to see what former Atlanta Dream head coach Nicki Collen will do at Baylor after Hall of Fame coach Kim Mulkey left for the LSU job.
"She's amazing," Griner said of Collen. "I think she's really going to get the girls going. She just brings a different style than Kim. I love Nicki. I always liked playing against her. I can't want to come out and see her. Hopefully, I can catch a game or something before I go back over to Russia. I really want to get down there."
"GOING FOR THE GOLD"
John Peers, Men's Tennis, Australia
Wil London, Track & Field, USA
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