WNBA star Brittney Griner publicly came out in 2013 as gay during the time of her draft into the WNBA. The towering center became the first openly gay athlete to be endorsed by Nike. In fact, Griner admitted that her contract with Nike could open up new opportunities for other members of the LGBTQ community. Even though she publicly came out in 2013, people close to her already knew. She first came out to her mother when she was in the ninth grade. And her mother was very welcoming. Griner once opened up about it in an article for the New York Times.

The Phoenix Mercury star accepted that it takes a lot of courage to come out. Remembering the time she came out to her mother, Griner revealed, “For whatever reason, at that moment I let my mom know I was gay. It wasn?t planned. It just popped out. She gave me a hug, smiled and told me she loved me, and I went back upstairs to my room. Simple as that.”

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She noted that she knew her family would love her irrespective of her sexuality. Griner added the simplicity behind her coming out was powerful.

Brittney Griner and her father

While Griner’s mother was welcoming, her father was not at the time. So Griner moved out and stayed with an assistant coach from school. However, her father would come around and mend things with his daughter. And then the two were in constant communication with each other. After all, she was her father’s girl.

In fact, the WNBA star had once admitted that she was “a daddy’s girl.” Her father was a Vietnam war Veteran and was working as a police officer at the time. She said that she loved hearing stories from her father about his everyday work and about his time in Vietnam. The basketball phenom also added that her father would show her photos taken while he was abroad.

She also said that she loved her working on cars with her father. The WNBA champion said that her hands were always oily and her clothes were stained with grease because of working on their cars with her father. She also said that she wanted to pursue auto mechanics in high school. But she could not because the schedule clashed with her basketball schedule.

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Brittney Griner soon became a national prospect and then led the Baylor Lady Bears to the national title before getting drafted as the #1 pick in the 2013 NBA draft.