Brittney Griner delivers an emphatic message — ‘I’m back’ — despite a loss to the Chicago Sky in her return to Phoenix

PHOENIX — Before Brittney Griner’s first 3-pointer in nearly two years splashed through the net at the Footprint Center, the crowd had already launched to its feet. The ball snapped through the net. The eruption that followed was a celebration of more than just a basket, capturing both the joy and relief of the WNBA star’s return to Phoenix.

Griner absorbed praise from each of her teammates before she turned to the crowd, pounded her chest twice and roared a message she had waited 597 days to deliver: “I’m back.”