WNBA basketball star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner and her spouse, attorney Cherelle Griner, are parents! The couple announced the arrival of their first child today, just ahead of the WNBA All-Star Weekend.
The baby actually arrived on July 8, and Brittney told CBS Sports that she is excited to be a “Pops”—a great reminder that LGBTQ parental names are vast and varied. In May, Brittney revealed in an interview with soccer superstar Megan Rapinoe at The Cut that the baby would be named Bash Raymond Griner.
Brittney and Cherelle married in 2019, although they met years earlier while students at Baylor University. In 2022, Brittney was detained in Russia for nearly 10 months for carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil, which she was authorized to use for medical purposes in the U.S., but which are illegal in Russia. Cherelle was instrumental in pushing for and obtaining her release. Brittney also has two children via a short-lived previous marriage.
In April, they posted on Instagram, “Can’t believe we’re less than three months away from meeting our favorite human being”—and that joyful attitude was evident again when Brittney told CBS Sports, “They said as soon as you see them, everything that you thought mattered just goes out the window. That’s literally what happened.”
She had told Rapinoe, “Screw the championships and all the trophies and all that; that’s going to be the highest peak of my life right there.” Sounds like that’s exactly what happened.
Brittney will have a quick turnaround after the All-Star game before heading to Paris for her third Olympics, which begin at the end of July—but honestly, her situation seems less fraught than that of her Phoenix Mercury teammate Diana Taurasi and her spouse, former Mercury player Penny Taylor, who had their second child between WNBA playoff games in October 2023. Taurasi flew home to Taylor in a rush after uttering the immortal words on camera, “Hold it in, babe. I’m coming.” My hat is off to these incredible athletes and their spouses for the intense schedules that they have to navigate.
Despite the new arrival, Brittney is “locked in and ready to go” for the Olympics, she told NBC News, even though, “Every minute I feel like he’s popping into my head.”
And while Brittney said to Rapinoe that she hopes Bash will play basketball, “I just want them to play something! They could do art, sports, whatever. Would I be very happy if it was basketball? Of course. But I was a soccer goalie in seventh and eighth grade.” That’s good, open-minded parenting right there, not forcing your kids to follow in your footsteps.
The couple join more than a dozen other WNBA players, former players, and coaches who are queer parents.
Brittney told CBS Sports, “My whole phone has turned into him now,” and I can relate. While neither Brittney nor Cherelle has posted any photos of their child publicly as of this writing, I don’t begrudge them their time or their child’s privacy. Many congratulations to the whole family!
