Love and basketball. Brittney Griner is one of the best athletes in the WNBA – and she always has her sweetheart, Cherelle Grinnershe cheered from the sidelines.
The Olympic gold medalist and the teacher met as students at Baylor University in Texas, while Brittney was making a name for herself as one of the best college basketball players of all time. However, they only started dating years later when they met again after the athlete split from her first wife. Glory Johnson.
“I’ll never forget the day I met you at Baylor in the minors!” Brittney wrote via Instagram in June 2020, “You tapped me on the shoulder and told me I took your milkshake (always still up for debate lol) and I was immediately overwhelmed by your beauty!” You had no idea, but I knew you were the one for me, baby. You have stayed by my side in both the lowest and the highest!”
The Phoenix Mercury Center proposed to Cherelle in August 2018, and the duo tied the knot almost a year later. Since then, the two have continued to gush over each other on social media, sharing vacation photos and reminiscing about the milestones of their relationship.
“Every day with you is spectacular but when I get to celebrate your life and everything you are it’s just breathtaking ❤️!” Brittney wrote via Instagram in July 2020 to celebrate her husband’s birthday. “Here’s to many more, my love.”
In 2022, the couple hit international headlines when the basketball star was jailed on drug charges in Russia. Brittney was in the country during the WNBA offseason, playing with EuroLeague team UMMC Ekaterinburg.
When the news broke in the US in March 2022, Brittney had already been detained for two weeks. Officials initially feared that an aggressive response could harm her chances of safe return given Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, but in May 2022 the U.S. State Department said Russia had “unjustly detained” the Texas native.
“It is an absolutely unimaginable situation for BG,” said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told Time after reclassification by the State Department. “Not a day goes by that I don’t work on it in some way. It was a really positive development that her case was referred to the State Department division called the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. When you get the label of not being incarcerated under the best conditions, they have shown that they are successful at getting people out.”
For her part, Cherelle supported her wife from afar, sharing videos of Brittney’s time on the court on social media. “Thank you to everyone who reached out to me regarding my wife’s safe return from Russia,” she wrote via Instagram in March 2022. “We greatly appreciate your prayers and support. I love my wife with all my heart, so this message comes at one of the weakest moments of my life.”
In December 2022, Cherelle was a shining sight in the White House as president Joe Biden announced that her wife had been released from Russian custody.
“After months of unjustified detention in Russia and in intolerable circumstances, Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and she should have been there all along,” Biden said during a press release as Cherelle and vice president Kamala Harris stood next to him.
“This is a day we have been working towards for a long time. We never stopped pushing for their release,” he added.
Keep scrolling for a look back at the full timeline of Brittney and Cherelle’s relationship.