Brittney Griner Made Her Stance on Representing the United States Extremely Clear

Brittney Griner will represent Team USA as a member of the United States women's basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Griner's trip to France this week marks her first time traveling overseas since her 10-month detainment in Russia in 2022-23. The two-time Olympic gold medalist was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison on drug smuggling charges after authorities found a cannabis cartridge in her luggage at a Moscow airport.

The WNBA superstar was ultimately released in a high-profile prisoner swap facilitated by the Biden Administration.

For Griner, wearing her USA Basketball jersey now has new meaning.

“It means everything to me honestly,” Griner told The Associated Press in an interview at the WNBA All-Star Game this past weekend. “For me to now have the honor to wear it again and potentially win gold is icing on the cake for everything.”

Back in 2020, Griner famously chose to avoid the United States National Anthem as a form of protest during the WNBA season.

“I’m not going to be out there for the national anthem. If the (WNBA) continues to want to play it, that’s fine. It will be all season long, I’ll not be out there," the Phoenix Mercury center said at the time.

Now heading into the 2024 Paris Olympics, Griner's stance on the anthem is quite different.

“Hopefully, everything goes the way we want it to go and that anthem’s playing,” Griner continued. “It’s going to be way more emotional this time.”

The 2024 Paris Olympics will begin with the Opening Ceremony on Friday night.