Brittney Griner: Mental health counseling ‘does wonders’ for Phoenix Mercury star
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner said she received mental health counseling after leaving the WNBA bubble last summer in Bradenton, Florida.
Speaking about her departure for the first time Thursday while at a USA Basketball camp in South Carolina, Griner said her decision to leave the Mercury after 12 games was “a hard one to make. I never thought I would be in that situation. But with everything I was dealing with, I needed to take that leave. It took a lot for me to make that decision.
“I definitely used counseling a lot when I left. It’s helped me out tremendously. I think more people should be open to talking about mental health issues and finding that centerpiece with themselves. It’s done wonders for me. I’m at a place now where I feel amazing. I took that time to work on my body as well, get rehab on my knees and other parts of my body. I’m feeling good and ready to go now.”
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She said being open about her counseling is important for “giving a little girl or boy or anybody somebody to see vocally speaking on using the resources of speaking out, counseling, talking to somebody else. We really don’t talk about our feelings. Just put it in a box and forget about it, push it to the back. That’s something that hurts us as a society honestly and is something that’s going to change with more athletes speaking up about it.”
Griner, 30, said she worked out at Exos in Scottsdale leading up to her return to Russia late last year and has had a smooth transition back to the game.
“Once I hit the court in Russia, the coach did a great job bringing me back in slowly and making it easy for me,” she said. “I really haven’t had too many hiccups or any setbacks, just the normal catching my lungs running up and down the court. It’s hard to simulate that. But after the first week, it was great.”
who re-signed Monday for two more seasons. Those two combined with Skylar Diggins-Smith, Bria Hartley and Brianna Turner are the Mercury’s core players going into this season.
Griner said 38-year-old Taurasi has “put in a lot of work on her body, on the sport. The day she does decide to leave is going to be a very sad day. But that day hasn’t come yet for us, and I am very excited.
“Playing with Dee is amazing. It’s always a great experience. When I saw she was coming back, I was very happy about it. I think everybody was.”
Follow the Arizona Republic‘s Jeff Metcalfe on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.