Brittney Griner slammed the criticism following her ejection from the Phoenix Mercury vs. Los Angeles Sparks game for reacting to a hard foul by declaring none of her detractors would “last a minute” in her shoes.
The 33-year-old, who served time in Russian prison on alleged drug offenses by being returned to the United States as part of a deal, found herself kicked out of the fixture at the Crypto.com Arena on September 17 in the second quarter of a tense 85-81 contest.
It’s the latest flare up over controversy for the Olympic champion and as she was booed as she departed the court, she furiously attacked her critics online as she was accused of poor sportsmanship and emotional control.
“Keep talking from your couches,” Griner posted to X.com, formerly Twitter. “Y’all wouldn’t last a minute in my shoes,”
“I play with passion. If you can’t handle that, maybe you should find another sport to watch.”
Her ejection happened when she flicked her hand in the face of the Sparks‘ Rickea Jackson, who then walked over to confront her as the pair immediately began to throw hands as players and match officials rushed in to split them.
Jackson was clearly incensed by what had happened and tried to continue the confrontation despite being held back, whilst Griner was walked to the bench by members of the Mercury team before she said her fair share to the officials too.
As a result, both of them were ejected before the Mercury managed to cling on to take their 19th win of the season (.487) ahead of the WNBA playoffs, which are due to begin on Sunday, September 22.
Who do the Mercury play next?
The Pheonix Mercury are back on their home turf once again following their victory over the Sparks as they welcome the Seattle Storm to the Footprint Center in Arizona on Thursday, September 19.
The Storm are currently third in the WNBA Western Conference with a .615 record and they trail the Las Vegas Aces by two wins, whilst the Mercury are a distant five wins behind the Washington-based team.
The game is expected to tip off at 22:00 ET/19:00 PT.
