AP Photo/Nick Wass
Following an incident last Saturday in which Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner and her teammates were harassed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the Mercury have adjusted their travel plans for the remainder of this season.
According to ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss, “The most significant change to Griner’s travel plans is the ability to fly charter for the Mercury’s remaining road games.”
The WNBA had said it gave Phoenix the ability to let Griner fly private all year, but Weinfuss noted that sources said this option was not available at the onset of this season. The Mercury now “might be able to use JSX public charter flights for the entire team on both standard and so-called ‘created’ routes, the latter of which other WNBA teams are not allowed to do.”
While Weinfuss stated that the WNBA and the Mercury didn’t confirm any travel details, league commissioner Cathy Engelbert said on Friday’s episode of Outside the Lines that adjustments were made to Griner’s travel and security plans.
“We’re just working with Phoenix to make sure we have a good plan going forward,” Engelbert said on OTL, “certainly for Brittney and for the rest of the Phoenix Mercury.”
Last Saturday, Griner was confronted by a Blaze Media YouTube personality who recorded himself saying disparaging remarks about her nine-month detainment in Russia and posted it to social media. Engelbert said she texted Griner on Saturday after the incident, and Weinfuss noted that “there is urgency to avoid any similar issues the rest of the season.”
Questions arose as to why Griner was flying commercial that day, but sources told Weinfuss it was likely due to the fact that JSX did not have a standard route from Dallas to Indianapolis.
“It shouldn’t have been commercial,” Terri Jackson, the executive director for the WNBA players’ union, said on OTL on Friday, adding that she spoke to Griner during a WNBPA meeting with the Mercury on Thursday. “She said, ‘We knew this was going to happen.’ She said, ‘Terri, I read the mail that comes to my locker. It’s fan mail, but it’s also a lot of hate mail.'”
Griner missed her first game of the season on Friday against the Washington Mystics due to a hip injury. The Mercury will return to action on Sunday in a road matchup against the New York Liberty.