During the Mercury’s most recent road trip from Dallas to Indiana, star center Brittney Griner was harassed by a person described as a “social media provocateur”.
Griner was released from her wrongful detainment in Russia late last year.
The man followed her around while recording, continuously attempting to push through the team’s security to ask inappropriate questions like if Griner had sex with Vladimir Putin in order to be released from Russia.
Diana Taurasi told Griner to “take a breathe” in that moment and that the team being put in this situation simply cannot happen.
Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard said the team and league will be making adjustments for travel in order to keep the players safe.
In the clip above, Sports360AZ’s Eliav Gabay gave his take of the situation.
Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, is calling for chartered flights in the WNBA:
Teammate Brianna Turner also came to Griner’s defense via Twitter:
Here are statements released by the Mercury and the WNBA:
Mercury rookie Destiny Harden: “I’m here for the challenge.”
