WNBA star Brittney Griner intends to represent the National anthem during the next season after spending nearly 10 months in a Russian prison, according to his agent.

Griner made headlines last week when he returned to game action with the mercury phoenix for the first time since the 2021 WNBA Finals.

Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury stands for the national anthem before the WNBA game against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on May 12, 2023. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Before the preseason bow, Griner and his teammates stood for the national anthem, with Griner saying the anthem «definitely had a different impact» following his imprisonment in Russia.

BRITTNEY GRINER PLAYS IN FIRST GAME SINCE STOP, SAYS LISTENING TO NATIONAL ANTHEM ‘DEFINITELY HIT DIFFERENT’

It was a sea change from the basketball star, who declared in July 2020 that he did not feel the national anthem. must be played during the WNBA season, adding that she would not be on the court for the anthem if she continued to play herself before games.

On Friday, Griner’s agent wrote a opinion piece at the time explaining why Griner will perform the national anthem during the 2023 WNBA season.

«Last year, most WNBA teams chose to remain in their locker rooms during the national anthem, in a gesture of unified protest against the inconsistency between the values ​​the anthem stands for and the realities of black people in America.» wrote Lindsay Kagawa Colas. «This year, at most remains unchanged, some teams or players may do the same. Others may sit or kneel. Others, including Brittney Griner, plan to stand up, physically for the anthem itself and symbolically for the rights of their teammates. .be heard and express your dissent loudly and boldly, and in accordance with the proudest traditions of this country, as you see fit.»

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Kagawa Colas explained that Griner will make a statement on «American liberties» defending the anthem.

Brittney Griner is introduced

Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner is introduced before a WNBA preseason basketball game against the Los Angeles Sparks, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

«Having been put in a literal cageFar too small for her frame, stripped of her essential American liberties and deprived of even her most basic rights during a mock trial and unfair sentence, Brittney, supported by many other players, will make a statement this WNBA season defending those liberties. exclusively American, the most important of which is the absolute, inviolable and constitutionally protected freedom to stand, sit, kneel, praise, protest and make your voice heard,» Kagawa Colas continued.

Griner was arrested in February 2022 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport after authorities discovered vape canisters filled with cannabis oil in her luggage.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Griner was in Russia playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg during the WNBA offseasonlike many WNBA players do to earn extra money.

Phoenix Mercury's support for the national anthem

The Phoenix Mercury stand for the national anthem before the game against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on May 12, 2023. (Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

«Brittney had been playing in russia due to unequal pay rooted in racism, sexism and homophobia,» Kagawa Colas wrote. «The reality that these same forces are what made her an ideal political pawn for Russian President Vladimir Putin kept everyone exceptionally focused and unified WNBA players, and rallied others, from members of the public to journalists who heeded warnings about Brittney’s safety in an effort to help her come back.»

Griner re-signed with the Mercury in February, returning for her 10th WNBA season, all with Phoenix.

The WNBA season is scheduled to begin Friday with four games, including the Mercury’s against the Los Angeles Sparks.