“Hearing the national anthem, it definitely hit different,” Griner said after the game. “It’s like when you go for the Olympics, you’re sitting there, about to get gold put on your neck, the flags are going up and the anthem is playing, it just hits different.”

Griner’s comments on the anthem are in stark contrast to those she made before her stint in a Russian penal colony on drug charges.

“I’m not going to be out there for the national anthem,” Griner said in July 2020, vowing to protest the anthem in support of racial justice. “If the league continues to want to play it, that’s fine. It will be all season long, I’ll not be out there.”

[I’m not surprised, and I don’t think this reflects poorly on Griner. Just the opposite — she learned a lesson the hard way, but at least she learned the lesson. — Ed]