PHOENIX — It was a block party celebration with basketball action squeezed in when the Phoenix Mercury tipped their home schedule off on Sunday at Footprint Center. From player introductions eliciting tears — particularly from another U.S. government official in the house to see the Mercury — to game-break honorees who pulled more than a usual amount of applause, it was all about their powerhouse post reclaiming the paint as hers in the Valley.
She answered a question about the emotions of it all by joking she had dust in her eye. None of the players had seen their pregame introductory clips for the season debut.
“Well, I don’t consider myself a dummy, but she was scoring every time she touched the ball,” Nygaard said. “So [I] just wanted to get her more touches. She was extremely productive and we needed her in because she was doing so many things for us. She battled through her fatigue tonight and I think every game we have, you’re going to see a little bit more from her.”
On her way back down the floor, Griner yelled, “I’m back,” while raising her hands in the 3-point symbols without any lull of applause from the home crowd. She said she didn’t start the game with an “I’m back” mentality, but joked she did end up saying that. “I didn’t know when that was going to happen, if it would happen,” Griner said. “It could have been a lot different. Having them here, spending time with them, playing in front of them, that got me choked up.”
That was on display throughout the game Sunday during media timeouts, stoppages in play and halftime performance of “One Love” by Wyclef Jean. Griner, who came into the press room and immediately walked into the seats to hug him, sat next to him holding in her emotions as he described crying like a baby the entire time he watched her playing.
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