Brittney Griner is no stranger to wearing Team USA across her basketball jersey in the Olympics, but a more reflective player heads to Paris considering what she’s been through since the 2020 Toyko Games. 

Griner, a two-time gold medalist for the U.S., was in Russian prison two years ago after being sentenced to nine years in jail for drug possession and smuggling after the Federal Customs Service found her traveling with vape cartridges containing less than a gram of hash oil, which is illegal in Russia. 

Griner would later be set free in a high-profile prisoner exchange that sent Viktor Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death,” who was serving a 25-year federal sentence on charges of conspiracy to kill American citizens and officials, among others. 

Before playing in the WNBA All-Star Game, where Griner, a star with the league’s Phoenix Mercury, spoke about how she gets chills wearing her Team USA jersey now. 

“It means everything to me honestly,” Griner said, via The Associated Press. “For me to now have the honor to wear it again and potentially win gold is icing on the cake for everything.”

This tune wasn’t sung by Griner always, as she previously suggested the WNBA shouldn’t play the national anthem before its games back in 2020 when social unrest was at the forefront during “Black Lives Matter” protests.

WNBA STAR BRITTNEY GRINER PLANS TO HAVE CHILD CALL HER ‘POPS’

“I think we should take that much of a stand,” Griner, who also knelt for the national anthem, told The Arizona Republic in July 2020. 

However, when Griner returned home from Russia, where she went to supplement her WNBA income by playing internationally, she said her appreciation for hearing the anthem was different.

“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,” she said after hearing the anthem for the first time since returning to the States. 

Griner also recently clapped back at critics who called her un-American for kneeling during the anthem, saying she was “blown away” by their words during an appearance on “The View.”

“Everyone has made a mistake before,” Griner said, responding to people who deemed her “careless.” “The unpatriotic thing, that blows my mind, because, one, my dad fought for this country, ’68, ’69, Vietnam Marines and law enforcement for 30 plus years. Dad was my hero. I wanted to be a cop. I didn’t want to play basketball growing up, I wanted to be a cop and go into the military, actually. And doesn’t it make me more American that I’m demonstrating a protest? That’s my right as an American, so for me to be called un-American, I was blown away at that.”

Brittney Griner during the USA Women’s basketball team training session at CitySport, The Franklin Building, London, before playing against Germany at the O2 arena in London in preparation for the Paris Olympic Games on July 22nd, 2024, in London, England. (Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

As she’s set to head overseas again, Griner feels very “protected” with Team USA. 

“It’s different, it’s way different,” she explained. “The level of comfortability and security we have right now makes it a lot easier.”

Griner has a lot to celebrate off the court these days as well, as she announced her wife, Cherelle, gave birth to their son, Bash, on July 8. She admitted it’s going to be hard being away from them while representing her country. 

Team USA head coach Cheryl Reeve discussed Griner and what she’s about to experience overseas for the first time since her Russian imprisonment.

“Think outside the Olympics, someone’s personal experience and what she went through and still continues to go through,” Reeve said. “We were all thinking of BG when she was away, and we didn’t know if this moment would be possible. I’m thrilled for her personally and thrilled for our basketball team.”

Brittney Griner #15 of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team poses for a portrait during Training Camp in Phoenix, Arizona on July 17, 2024 as part of WNBA All Star. (Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

Team USA, looking to win yet another gold, will play its first game in the Olympics against Japan in the group phase on July 29 in Lille, France.

Fox News’ Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.

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Jon Kramer couldn’t believe his bad luck.

The 28-year-old data analyst from Culver City and his friends were sitting in loge-level seats along the third-base line at the Boston Red Sox-Dodgers game Sunday. They decided to take a walk to Centerfield Plaza during the bottom of the fifth inning for some food and drinks.

Walking past one of the large video monitors, Kramer noticed Shohei Ohtani was at the plate. He stopped to watch and saw the Japanese superstar hit his 30th home run for the Dodgers this season.

“He hits the home run and my first thought is, ‘I can’t believe I’m watching this on a screen instead of at my seat. We left at the wrong time and blah, blah, blah,’” Kramer told The Times on Monday.

But an estimated two seconds later, Kramer couldn’t believe his good fortune.

“The ball comes flying over the pavilion, lands — it hits a guy behind me like in the chest and hit the ground, and I was just right there and picked it up,” Kramer said.

Ohtani’s bomb off Boston’s Kutter Crawford traveled 473 feet and nearly cleared the roof over the right-center field stands. Instead, it appeared to somehow fly through the small space between the hanging “Daiso” sign and the roof before landing in the plaza area.

“I’ve been going to baseball games my whole life and I’ve never even come close to getting a home run ball, let alone a ball that [nearly] left Dodger Stadium,” Kramer said. “So just right place, right time.”

In the immediate aftermath, Kramer said, he was swarmed by Japanese reporters as well as Dodgers fans looking to have a selfie taken with the ball blasted by Ohtani. He said his fiancee, Julia Brosseau, from Boston, had to quickly remove her Red Sox hat to pose for pictures with him.

Kramer said he left his number with Dodgers personnel in hopes of possibly getting Ohtani to sign the ball. But even if that doesn’t happen, Kramer said, he still has a unique display piece for his desk.

“It’s so surreal,” he said. “The fact that this ball — on ‘Sunday Night Baseball,’ national television, everyone’s talking about it, trending on social media — and it’s like, ‘Yeah, I have that ball.’ So it’s pretty insane. I spent all day just kind of watching replays and, like, basking in how insane this moment is.”

St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Matt Carpenter addressed online speculation regarding his team’s recent celebration, stating multiple times that the gestures were in no way a political statement.

The team celebration came into question Sunday afternoon after an online outlet compared it to images that emerged shortly after an assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump on July 13.

Snippets of Alec Burleson’s home run trot and the subsequent dugout celebration appeared to show Burleson and many of his teammates cupping their ears with one hand while raising their opposite fists in the air.  Lars Nootbaar also made the gesture as he rounded the bases after his own home run one inning later.

Carpenter denied any political motivation and explained the celebration was meant to be a team joke with Burleson.

“Burleson is a former college rapper,” Carpenter said. “He’s been carrying us at the plate. (The celebration) is the furthest thing from a political statement.”

Is this a Trump home run celebration by the Cardinals? pic.twitter.com/f2XrQr0q3u

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 21, 2024

“It’s an inside joke with (Burleson),” Carpenter said. “This isn’t a political statement by any means. I don’t know where that came from.”

Carpenter said the gestures are intended to mimic a DJ as a reference to Burleson, who shares the team lead in home runs. Burleson was a rapper in college, and his teammates consistently refer to him by his rap name, “Biscuit” in the clubhouse.

Though the celebration came into question publicly on Sunday afternoon, Carpenter said the team had been doing it dating to the end of the first half of the season.

“It’s slowly catching on,” Carpenter said. “I don’t know who, or the first official guy to do it on the field, but it was for sure in the first half. It picked up steam in this series, for sure.

“Definitely not a political statement. I think that’s a little off-base here.” 

The Cardinals weren’t the only ones leaving viewers wondering about their celebrations. After stroking a double at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, Rays infielder Taylor Walls raised a fist and mouthed “fight, fight,” similar to Trump’s gesture just moments after his assassination attempt.

Taylor Walls did the Trump “Fight! Fight!” after this double pic.twitter.com/8K5ovTEIQh

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 21, 2024

(Photo of Lars Nootbaar: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)