WNBA star Brittney Griner had a difficult time growing up around her family. She often found herself distanced from her father due to his strict upbringing and the rules at their home. BG often rebelled as a kid, from not letting anyone tell her what to wear to disobeying her father just to be around a new member of her family. In her biographical memoir, Griner revealed the story of how her best friend Thunder helped her get close to her strict father when she was eight years old.

Brittney Griner released her memoir titled ‘In My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court’ in 2014. The eight-time All-Star talked about her difficult childhood, her journey to exploring her sexuality, the criticism she faced, and how she made it big in the WNBA. In one of the chapters, Griner shared how her dog Thunder helped her get closer to her father after a surprising incident.?

As it turns out, Brittney Griner’s dad was quite fond of rottweilers as they were quite good for protection. So when BG was eight years old her father brought a police-trained rottweiler home after their dog Rottie passed away. Griner considered the dog her best friend and they named the new member of their family Thunder. At first, the 2014 WNBA champ felt that Thunder was ‘one mean dog’ when they first brought him home after a training class.?

Brittney Griner surprised her father with a brave move

Initially, Griner’s father used to put Thunder in the backyard fence before leaving for work. He warned BG not to go in the backyard or Thunder would bite her. However, being a curious kid and knowing Rottie had never hurt her, Griner took the risk of going near Thunder. Griner’s new friend seemed to like her and she often slipped him bacon through the fence.

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As the weeks went by, BG got the courage to test Thunder’s behavior towards her in the absence of her father. Once, the then-eight-year-old went out to the far side of her backyard to see if Thunder came to her. She got down to the ground as Thunder rushed towards her at full speed. Fortunately, Thunder did what BG had expected of him and slipped right into her arms.

Griner’s dad eventually came home and rushed to the backyard to find BG and Thunder rolling around and playing. The Phoenix Mercury center felt that her father would scold her. However, to her surprise, Griner’s father said,?“How the heck did you get him to do that?”

She replied, “I don’t know. I guess I’m good with dogs.”?She did not tell her father about the bacon in her pocket that she was giving to Thunder.?

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Further, BG revealed that being close to Thunder became a way to being close to her strict dad. Griner reckoned that she was trying to assert her independence and express her free will the way an eight-year-old could. So she sought to bravery to stick around Thunder and later on became best friends with him.