Editorial: Don’t forget about Brittney Griner
Don’t forget about Brittney Griner. As we head into the post-Brittney-Groner portion of the WNBA regular season, we’ve got five players coming off injuries in the form of injuries or surgeries that will cost them significant time or even the entire season.
We’ve got three of these players who will be the first ones on the bubble, namely the aforementioned Brittney Griner and Alana Beard. The other two, Candice Dupree and Chiney Ogwumike, are a question mark in my mind, with the former coming off surgery and the latter coming off an ankle injury. But don’t forget about Brittney Griner, the most dynamic player on the Washington Mystics and an emerging talent on a WNBA team that’s loaded with talent and depth across two of the league’s best teams.
She’s the driving engine of the Mystics, and they haven’t had this kind of offensive explosion since Lindsay Whalen came into the league. She’s averaging 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game and has pulled off the feat in each of the first three games. In two of those games, she’s started and averaged 18 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
In addition, she’s shooting almost 50 percent from the field (50 percent in two games) and 46 percent from three-point range (44 percent in two games). That last statistic alone is incredible because of how rarely those shots are made.
The key to this is scoring. She’s pulling down about 3.5 more rebounds per game than her career average, and she’s putting in the hard work to improve her rebounding numbers. Her shot selection is improving, too, and she’s making more three-point shots while pulling up higher (42 percent) from deep.
What’s also interesting is her scoring ability combined with her athleticism and her size. She can score in a variety of ways. She’s been getting her hands on the ball more this season and is showing a more active pull-up
