You know the old saying, “you don’t know what you got til it’s gone”? WNBA star Britney Griner may as well get it tattooed somewhere.
The former National Anthem protester is singing a different tune about America these days – and it seems her change of attitude has come from an appreciation of America and all that comes with it.
After the women’s Team USA basketball squad won the gold medal in Paris over home team France, Griner broke down in tears.
And based on her comments, she seems to “get it” now.
“This one meant a lot to me,” Griner said.
“I mean, just having a chance to play for gold, represent my country, what my country did for me. Yeah, this is the highest on the pinnacle right here.”
That attitude is a far cry from her former stance – where she even called on the WNBA to stop playing the National Anthem altogether.
But to be fair to Griner, winning the Gold for America wasn’t the real turning point. That was when she finally landed back on American soil after being held in a Russian prison for months.
Watch Griner explain her change of heart when it comes to America and the National Anthem after her ordeal overseas:
This writer is all for the new Britney Griner.
It’s always much easier to criticize. America isn’t perfect. No place on this earthly plane is perfect. But America is a place where someone like Britney Griner can become wealthy and famous for playing a game. It’s a place where she can protest our national symbols of pride and make her voice heard without fear of official sanction. (Looking at you, England.)
And, in the state of Arizona where her WNBA team plays, she can even run around with a little bit of weed without fear of being tossed in a dungeon for months on end, like she was in Russia.
For all those who ripped Griner in the past – maybe we can have the grace to cheer her on now.
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