Brittney Griner, who once boycotted the national anthem, gets emotional as the national anthem plays

Brittney Griner was among the WNBA players who spoke out about the national anthem in 2020 amid a summer of racial unrest following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Griner said in 2020 that the WNBA shouldn't play the national anthem, adding the league should "take that much of stand." She also walked off the court before the anthem was played before a game that season. But since then, Griner has gone through tumult. She was imprisoned for nearly 10 months in Russia after she was arrested on drug charges in February 2022. The U.S. and Russia would agree to a prisoner swap and the ordeal seemed to change Griner’s stance about what "The Star-Spangled Banner" means to the country.

Griner was seen with the gold medal around her neck after the U.S. women’s basketball team defeated France at the Paris Olympics and in tears as the anthem blared.