Phoenix Mercury Star Brittney Griner Takes Break To Focus On Mental Health

WNBA star Brittney Griner is taking a time out to focus on her mental health this week.

The Phoenix Mercury player is skipping the team's current road trip and will miss at least two games, one in Chicago and one in Indiana this week, with no set timeline on her return to the court.

The Mercury, who fully supports Griner, issued a statement on social media explaining why the star player will be skipping a few games this week.

"Mercury center Brittney Griner will not travel with the team on its upcoming two-game road trip to Chicago and Indiana (July 30-August 1) to focus on her mental health," the statement reads. "The Mercury fully support Brittney and we will continue to work together on a timeline for her return."

Griner returned to the league earlier this year after being detained in a Russian prison for nearly 10 months on drug charges. She re-signed a contract with the Mercury upon her return and made her first official appearance during a game when the team played against the Los Angeles Sparks in May. A month after her return to the court, she played in the WNBA All-Star game.

Griner, a nine-time WNBA All-Star, finished the game with 18 points, scoring her team's first six points and dunking twice for Team Stewart leading them to victory over Team Wilson 143-127.

"It meant everything to me. I didn't think that I would be here today, honestly but everybody sending letters, sending love, post," Griner said to the crowd at the game, according to CNN. "I'm still seeing it to this day everything that everybody did. It really meant a lot to me, it gave me hope, it made me not want to just give it up for anything, so it was this league that helped me out."

The Mercury shared the news that Griner was awarded the Community Assist Award for the month of June a few days ago on Instagram.

"From championing the safe return of wrongful detainees to her contributions for marginalized communities in The Valley - Brittney Griner’s impact continues to extend beyond the court 🧡," the caption reads.

Since Griner has been home, she's continued her commitment to helping other wrongfully detained Americans. A recent Instagram video sheds light on all that she's accomplishing in her mission to help others and why she was awarded the Community Assist award.

Mercury coach, Nikki Blue, spoke about Griner's charity work and her "heart of service."

"For BG to still be able to be giving back and still have the heart to give back to this community is amazing because she's such a great person. You know just has a heart of service, has a heart for people," she said in the video shared on Instagram. "I'm very excited for her and glad that the WNBA recognized her. I mean, she could probably get it every single month because of her efforts."

Fans dropped into the comment section to talk about how much they love what Griner is doing for others.

"I love her! Even before I knew about the shoe drive & how it started (!!), but even more afterwards. BG!!👏🤗🧡💜," one person wrote. Another added, "So proud of you BG!!! Thank you for all you do!!! Congratulations!!!👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️"