If you’re an avid follower of WNBA, then Brittney Griner should be a household name. For those that don’t know, Brittney Griner is an American professional basketball player who currently represents Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Over the course of her career as a professional basketball player for Phoenix Mercury, she has won one championship, and been named an All Star for 8 of her 9 seasons. She is also the only basketball player in the WNBA to score over two thousand points and block over five hundred shots.
When her career, which is more than exceptional, isn’t in the mix, Brittney Griner is known for her lavish lifestyle. She’s one of the highest paid athletes in the WNBA to this day. When all her earnings are combined and calculated, her total net worth comes to a whopping 17 million USD, which is no short of impressive.
In this article, apart from revealing various facts and trivias, we will carry out an in-depth analysis on just how Brittney Garner earned her way to becoming a multi-millionaire. We hope you stick around until the end and enjoy acquiring more knowledge behind the luxurious life the American basketball player leads off court.
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Is Brittney Griner A Millionaire? Brittney Griner’s Real Net Worth, Salary, And More
Since Brittney Griner is no longer a rookie in the league, but is rather considered to be one of the most influential veterans as of today, it hardly ever comes as a surprise when her total net worth adds up to $17 million. Apart from being one of the best players in the association, she is also one of the faces of the league.
As of 2024, Brittney earns around $220,000 for representing Phoenix Mercury year in year out. During off-season, Brittney tends to focus on improving her forte through being in collaboration with other teams.
Additionally, for a brief period of time, between the years 2013 and 2014, Brittney took her talents to China to play for CBA superteam Zhejiang Golden Bulls. When playing in the CBA, Brittney added a massive amount of $600,000 to her belt in the matter of just 3 months!
In addition to her spell in Asia, Griner also represents UMMC Ekaterinburg, a Russian basketball team in RPL (Russian Premier League). She started playing for them in 2014, and remains an active player amongst the team’s roster as of 2024. She also reportedly earns around $1.5 million on an annual basis, which definitely adds to her beyond impressive net worth.
Brittney Griner also broke multiple stereotypes and barriers when she became the first openly gay athlete to sign an endorsement deal with Nike in 2015. While the accurate sum of how much she earned from that deal remains unknown, Griner has added at least $1 million to her back account every year since 2015 through the Nike sponsorship.
Overview
Here are some surprising facts and a mini bio on Brittney Griner that comprises materials that we’re almost sure you didn’t know about! Did you know that Brittney Griner was initially supposed to pursue a career in volleyball as opposed to basketball? Find out more exciting trivias below!
| Name | Brittney Yvette Griner |
| D.O.B | October 18, 1990 (31 Years Old) |
| Sex | Female |
| Hometown | Houston, Texas, United States |
| Height | 6’9 (2.06m) |
| Relationship Status | Married; Cherelle Griner (2019-Present) |
| Net Worth | 17 Million USD (2024) |
| Zodiac | Libra |
| Occupation | WNBA Player |
| Career Information | |
| High School | Nimitz (Houston, Texas) |
| College | Baylor (2009-2013) |
| WNBA | 2013/ Round 1/ Pick: 1st Overall (Phoenix Mercury) |
| Years Active | 2009-Present |
Brittney Yvette Griner was born on 18 October, 1990 in Houston, Texas, USA. She is the daughter of Raymond and Sandra Griner. Her dad is a former marine and Harris County Sheriff who served in Vietnam between 1968 and 1969.
Brittney Griner identifies as a lesbian and came out to the public in 2013. In addition to revealing her gender orientation, she revealed how she was always bullied throughout high school due to her height, her physical traits, and her preferences. She even wrote a memoir with Sueve Harvey on how she improvised, adapted, and overcame that harsh phase in 2014.
In high school, Brittney’s basketball skills were so immense and impressive that she had always trained with the Nimitz High School boys’ basketball team. When she wasn’t impressing her fellow classmates on the basketball court, she was picking other high school volleyball teams apart with her talents with a volleyball. While she equally excelled in both categories, she ultimately chose to side with her love for basketball.
She then played college basketball at Baylor University, where she broke and set multiple records that one has yet to break to this day. She averaged over 22 points and blocked over 223 shots during her rookie season, an NCAA feat that has yet to be duplicated and overtaken to this day. Brittney also was the first female athlete in Baylor history to score a triple-double.
In addition to her excelling shot blocking ability, Griner was renowned for her dunking abilities. She was one of the first 7 women to dunk twice in one game, and remains one of the handful of female athletes that have dunked over 52 times in high school. During her time at Baylor, Brittany was named AP Player of the year, was an AP Second Team All-American, and also won the Premier Player of Women’s College Basketball in 2012.
Through her leadership skills and her memorable performance, Baylor also won the NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Championship in 2012. They also won 40 straight games prior to being named champions; the most in NCAA history.
Griner soon declared her intentions to join the WNBA and left college basketball for good in 2013, shortly after Baylor’s loss in the Sweet 16. She was drafted by Phoenix Mercury as the first pick during the first round of the 2013 NBA Draft, a franchise that still avails her services as of today.
Since the start of her WNBA career, Griner has added multiple accolades to her belt in addition to a championship ring in 2014. She was one of the 25 WNBA players on the NBA 25th Anniversary Team, and won the blocking title 8 times in 9 seasons. She’s also a two-time Scoring Champion, two-time WNBA Defensive Player of The Year, and 8 time WNBA All Star.
Domestic Abuse Charges and Arrest in Russia
When her career as a professional basketball player isn’t in the mix, Griner tends to be in the public eye due to her tendency of making controversial remarks, and having an inability to make the right decisions.
It all started in 2015, when she got into a physical altercation with her then-fiance,Glory Johnson. They were arrested on charges of assault and disorderly conduct at their home in Phoenix, Arizona. While both had sustained injuries, Griner was also required to seek 26 weeks of domestic violence counselling after both Griner and Johnson pleaded guilty.
While none of her remarks or actions apart from the remarks she made against playing the national anthem before every WNBA game in 2020 didn’t create quite the buzz around tabloids and media, Griner started trending again on 17 February, 2022 after she was detained indefinitely at Sheremetyevo Airport for carrying vaporizers with hashish oil, a substance that is forbidden in Russia.
While several appeals have been made to ensure the release of the WNBA champion, her future remains uncertain as the multiple appeals that have been made for her release never panned out in Griner’s favour. In a closed door hearing on 27 June, it was revealed that a court in Khimki extended Brittney’s detention by 6 months.
On July 4, 2022, the superstar of the Phoenix Mercury even wrote a letter to Joe Biden, the current U.S. President, where she expressed her concerns regarding the current situation she’s in and humbly requested for the 46th U.S. President’s assistance. “I miss my wife. I miss my teammates. I miss my family. It kills me to know they are suffering so much right now. I am grateful for whatever you can do to get me home.” she stated.
The Whitehouse also confirmed that they are doing everything in their power to ensure Brittney’s release from Russia as well as release other fellow Americans that have been “wrongfully detained”.
Bottom Line
All in all, we hope you have enjoyed getting more insight about Brittney Griner’s net worth and lifestyle. Although she is currently in an unfortunate scenario with an uncertain outcome, we hope things change for the better and pan out in her favour soon enough.
Regardless, if you can’t get enough of our content, make sure to skim through and have a look at the rest of the materials available on our website! Aside from revealing the net worth of multiple celebrities and athletes, we also debunk multiple myths that are currently taking the world by storm.
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