(Reuters) – Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner has sustained a toe fracture on her left foot and will be out indefinitely, the WNBA team said on Monday.
Griner, who was freed from a Russian penal colony in a high-profile prisoner exchange in December 2022, will be re-evaluated in the coming weeks and Phoenix said updates on her condition would be provided as appropriate.
The WNBA’s 2024 season opens on Tuesday with four games, including Phoenix at the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces.
Griner was arrested in February 2022 at an airport outside Moscow for carrying vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.
She was subsequently convicted of drug smuggling and later transferred to one of Russia’s most notorious penal colonies.
Griner was eventually released in a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, a deal that was arranged after months of talks during a time of high tension between the U.S. and Russia after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
In her first season back, Griner averaged 17.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in 2023.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Chris Reese)
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