Following the abuse of WNBA star Brittney Griner at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Phoenix Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard stated Sunday that the team’s leadership intends to make changes to prioritise players’ travel safety.
Griner, who was illegally held in Russia and was released in December, was at the airport Saturday morning on her way to a game with teammates when she was assaulted by a guy.
The individual, who the WNBA identified as a “social media provocateur,” shouted at the two-time Olympic gold winner about “the Merchant of Death.”
According to the source, the guy was tackled and police were called as the incident became more intense.
Griner was freed after over 300 days in Russian imprisonment in a prisoner exchange involving Russian weapons dealer Viktor Bout, dubbed the “Merchant of Death.” Some Republicans criticised the prisoner swap, accusing the Biden administration of handing a dangerous prisoner back to Russia, CNN has reported.
“League rules prohibit me from discussing travel, but I can discuss safety, so we will ensure that our players, our organisation, and our staff are safe,” Nygaard said before of the Mercury’s game against the Indiana Fever on Sunday.
“We will make adjustments that perhaps should have been made earlier, but right now, we’re going to prioritise the safety of our players, and we’ve seen that our organisation has supported us,” the head coach stated.
When asked whether Griner had been allowed to charter aircraft and why she wasn’t doing so on Saturday, Nygaard said the team was according to league-established regulations and procedures.
The WNBA stated in a statement Saturday that it worked with the Mercury and Griner’s organisation to assure her safety ahead of the season, and that she had been granted authorization to charter planes.
Mercury centre Brianna Turner described the harassing incident as “very alarming,” adding it was “startling” to hear individuals yelling and raising a commotion waiting for them at the entrance.
“That’s obviously nothing anyone wants to deal with, especially when on a business trip,” she said.
Mercury star Diana Taurasi described the event as “unnerving,” adding that the players’ safety comes first.
“Basketball is secondary to all of that,” Taurasi said. “People have families, kids, and I think putting them in that situation is pretty disrespectful to not only (Griner), but to our team, and to the league in general.”
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