PHOENIX — With every step through the Footprint Center, it’s impossible to escape images of Brittney Griner.
Griner is everywhere — her name emblazoned on the side of the arena and on the court where she played all nine years of her WNBA career for the Phoenix Mercury, her face decorating shirts and hoodies worn by players and fans milling on the street and entering to watch the Phoenix Suns.
Now 286 days since she first was imprisoned in Russia, Griner’s hope for a return to Phoenix remains uncertain as she faces nine years in a penal colony for a minor drug offense.
