UNCASVILLE — Connecticut Sun forward Aaliyah Edwards breathed an immediate sigh of relief when she got the notification that Brittney Griner was signing with the Sun as a free agent.
Edwards, a 6-foot-3 former UConn standout, spent her first two seasons in the WNBA dreading every matchup in the post with the 6-9 superstar. As soon as she found out they would be teammates in 2026, Edwards texted Griner about how excited she was to avoid playing against her this season.
“At times during my first two years, I was contemplating why I’m even in the W when I’m trying to guard her,” Edwards laughed. “I love BG. I love her energy, I love her pursuit (of greatness) and how she carries herself on and off the court, so just to learn alongside her is super fun.”
As she leads the Sun into the season-opener at the Liberty on Friday night, Griner is one of the most decorated centers in league history. She’s a 10-time All-Star, a six-time All-WNBA selection, a seven-time all-defensive team member and a 2014 WNBA champion with the Phoenix Mercury. Her signing with the rebuilding Sun came as a surprise to those on the outside, but the decision was easy for Griner after she made a call to Shavonte Zellous, the team’s manager of basketball development and one of Griner’s best friends.
Ironically, the bond between Griner and Zellous was forged at Mohegan Sun long before either was affiliated with the Connecticut franchise. Uncasville hosted the WNBA All-Star game in 2013, and Griner earned her first All-Star honors as a rookie that season. Zellous, who played in the league from 2009-21, also earned the lone All-Star nod of her career in 2013, and Griner remembers they spent the entire weekend partying together at the clubs inside the casino. Since then, they’ve been inseparable.
“She’s one of my closest friends in the W, so when I heard she was one of the people we were looking at, I was like let me hit her up right now,” Zellous said. “It was a blessing to be able to get her to come here with who she is, what she brings, the type of person she is.”
Zellous’s pitch to Griner was simple: You can be yourself here. Griner spent 2025 with the Atlanta Dream playing in a system that didn’t suit her strengths, and she had the least productive season of her 12 years in the WNBA. Griner averaged 9.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks with the Dream, all of which were career lows, and she heard the buzz from fans and media that perhaps she was too far past her prime to have the impact she once did.
Griner is determined to prove those doubts wrong in 2026, and she was sold by the confidence she felt from the Connecticut staff and front office.
“I knew exactly what I wanted,” Griner said. “I wanted to be coached, and they said that they were going to coach me and bring out the best in me; it was just the right fit. They believed in me. They didn’t question what I could do on the court, so when you have people like believing in you, why would I not come?”
Why Brittney Griner signed with Connecticut Sun for final season in CT: ‘Basketball is rich here’
While Griner has been a centerpiece on nearly every team she’s ever played on, Connecticut is her first time being the only true veteran on a roster. She had future Hall of Famer Diana Taurasi by her side for all 10 seasons she spent in Phoenix, and while she was the most experienced player in Atlanta last year, the team also had eight-year vets Allisha Gray and Brionna Jones with a combined seven All-Star nods between them.
Connecticut’s 2026 roster is the youngest Griner has ever been part of in the WNBA. The Sun’s average age is just 25 years old, and Griner has played twice as many seasons in the league as the team’s next most experienced player.
For the players who grew up watching her career, it’s hard not be starstruck by Griner, but she constantly encourages the younger players to compete fearlessly and doesn’t hesitate to challenge them in the practice gym. Rookie center Raegan Beers, who signed with the Sun after going undrafted in 2026, said Griner pushed her early in training camp to own her space in the paint and was excited when Beers put an arm bar in her back during a defensive possession.
“She told me not to be scared, and she’s a little intimidating because she’s insanely tall, but you can’t be scared,” Beers said with a smile. “She’s very encouraging, always the first one to give high fives. It’s really encouraging to have that in my position as an undersized center. To have that support coming here has just been incredible from her.”
Vocal leadership doesn’t necessarily come naturally to Griner, but she’s embracing the role as she enters a new phase of her career with the Sun. General manager Morgan Tuck said part of the reason the team pursued Griner in free agency was to help establish the franchise’s culture amid its rebuild, and her impact shows in the instant chemistry the team has found on and off the court.
“We just have a very positive group … and I think BG’s a really big part of that,” Tuck said. “She’s such a positive person, and everybody looks up to her and they’re excited about playing with her. I think when they see coming from her that she can have fun and be positive, it’s a lot easier for the younger ones, too.”
Though Griner is more than a decade older than most of her teammates, she fits in seamlessly with the youthful energy in the Sun locker room. Second-year guard Saniya Rivers frequently gets Griner to participate in the group’s shenanigans for social media — the 35-year-old showed she can still hit the splits in a video Rivers posted last week — and Edwards said Griner is the definition of young at heart.
“She’s going to help build a great winning culture for us this season, which I’m excited for, but also she’s just a little kid at the end of the day,” Edwards said. “She may look big and be a bit scary, but her personality is very loving and very kind … I’m trying to get a TikTok with her, so we’ll see how it goes. She cooks for us too, so I think she likes us a little bit.”
