?At Home, I Was a Carefree, Curious, Mischievous Little Girl. At School, I Was a Freak?: Despite Humble Houston Upbringing, Things Never Remained Normal for Brittney Griner

WNBA star Brittney Griner had a humble upbringing in Houston, Texas. Her father was a Vietnam war veteran and worked as a police officer. And her mother was a homemaker. Griner said that was into working on cars because of her father. She said that she and her father would work on their family cars every day. And that her hands and clothes would be oily and greasy because of that. The towering center even said that she wanted to pursue auto mechanics in high school. The WNBA champion once opened up about her upbringing and talked about a variety of things.

Talking about her experience in school and at home, she wrote, “At home, I was a carefree, curious, mischievous little girl. At school, I was a freak.”?

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While Griner had a fun time at home, she did not at her school. Things were not normal in school. Because of her physique, some schoolmates taunted her. She had to hear a lot of negative comments and go through bullying. Griner would come back home and just cry in her room.

Brittney Griner found basketball

Brittney Griner said that she even questioned her own existence because of all the hate comments and taunting. She was in a really bad place and she did not know her purpose. However, she soon realized her purpose when an assistant coach asked her to try out for the basketball team. She had not even thought about basketball at that point, as she had played volleyball and soccer so far. Griner even thought that she would not even make the team.

Interestingly, she made the team in ninth grade. And she had a mindboggling growth spurt at the time. This sudden change in her height made her really uncomfortable. She was extremely clumsy and had to endure enormous knee pain from the growth spurt. Griner said that she could not even sit through classes because of her unbearable knee pain.

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She slowly made progress with her basketball skills and kept at it. But the taunts did not stop. However, this time, Griner stopped focusing on the negativity, as she had her newfound purpose of basketball. She soon developed a love for the game and became one of the top prospects. She dominated college basketball so much so that NBA superstar LeBron James compared her dominance to the dominance of all-time great Wilt Chamberlain.