WNBA star Brittany Griner re-signs with Phoenix Mercury

By AP
Published

PHOENIX (AP) Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner signed a multiyear contract with the team Sunday.

Griner, a three-time All-Star and two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, signed the deal during the pregame TV show leading up to the Phoenix Suns' game against the Portland Trail Blazers. She also attended the game.

''Brittney Griner is the present and the future of the WNBA and we are fortunate to guarantee she continues her growth here in Phoenix,'' Mercury general manager Jim Pitman said in a statement from the team.

The 26-year-old Griner has the WNBA record for blocked shots in a single season with 129, blocks in a single game with 11 and career blocks-per-game average, 3.49. The 2013 first overall pick in the WNBA draft was the fastest player in league history to reach 400 career blocks, doing so in 115 games.

A 2014 All-WNBA first team and 2015 All-WNBA second team selection, Griner has career averages of 14.5 points and 7.2 rebounds. She has also dunked eight times out of the 14 recorded regular-season dunks in the 20-year history of the league.