Indianapolis – Phoenix trainer Vanessa Nygaard He said Sunday that Mercury will make adjustments to travel to future road games, one day after the all-star center Brittney Griner He was confronted by an “agitator” at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Nygaard did not disclose details of these changes, citing league policy and safety concerns for her team.
“We will ensure that our players, our organization, and our employees are safe,” Nygaard said before the Mercury game in Indiana. “We will make adjustments that probably should have happened before, but for now we will prioritize the safety of our players and we have seen that the organization has supported us.”
YouTube personality Alex Stein posted a 93-second video at the airport of him yelling at Greiner, questioning why she still hates America and if it was a fair trade to trade a Russian prisoner for her release.
Greener’s teammates say they were surprised when the confrontation began and were eventually escorted to another room with more privacy.
“Obviously, this is not something that no one wants to deal with, especially on a business trip for the sake of work,” the Phoenix Center said. Brianna Turner He said. “We represent the league, we represent the city of Phoenix, our organization and at times like this we don’t want to make a big scene. We don’t like throwing phones or saying certain things. I think the lesson is you live and you learn but I don’t know what to do if it happens again.”
Griner does not speak before matches on the road, but was expected after the competition against the Fever.
Seeing what happened also upsets players across the league.
“I’m not going to lie, this made me really angry,” Phifer said forward Emma Cannon, who is a close friend and former classmate of Griner’s. “Then I saw a little snippet of the video, which was annoying, and then it was your first time flying commercial with a team like that, and it was annoying.”
Brianna Stewartwho is a member of the players’ association’s executive committee, said no one would have any problems if Greiner was flying privately.
“I think you know, there needs to be extra precautionary measures, you know, I don’t think anybody is against BG doing charter flights whenever they want, so that it’s the same and it’s traveling and it’s comfortable and safe because that’s the last thing we want is what happened yesterday,” Stewart said. “.
Prior to this season, league officials had discussed with Griner’s representatives and Mercury’s security concerns regarding the All-Star’s road trips following her return from internment in Russia. The idea was the highly publicized case that compromised her safety and the safety of others.
The university granted Greener permission to book her own flights. Charter flights have been added for the entirety of the playoffs this year as well as a few consecutive regular season games scheduled for such flights. WNBA teams have flown commercials during the regular season since the league’s inception in 1997.
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