Brittney Griner and her wife, Cherelle Griner, are ending their marriage after almost eight years together. The WNBA star filed for divorce in Fulton County, Georgia, on Thursday, as per court documents.
In the filing, Brittney called the marriage “irretrievably broken” and said the couple has been separated since July 24. The 35-year-old is also seeking joint legal custody of their 2-year-old son, Bash. Here is everything we know about their family.
Who is Bash?
Brittney and Cherelle welcomed their first child, son Bash, in July 2024. Becoming a mother changed how Brittney looked at life and basketball. “My whole phone has turned into him now,” she said in an interview with CBS Sports at the time.
The couple had first shared their pregnancy news on April 13, 2024. Cherelle posted a sonogram photo on Instagram and wrote, “Can’t believe we’re less than three months away from meeting our favorite human being.”
Bash was born on July 8, 2024, weighing 7 lbs, 8 oz. Brittney revealed she wanted her son to call her “Pops.” She told NBC Nightly News, “Baby’s here. Baby Bash got here. Every minute, I feel like he’s popping in my head. I’m thinking about him. It’s like, I can hear him sometimes. I feel like I can smell him. It’s just- my world changed.” She also named him Bash Raymond, after her dad, Raymond.
The family shared Bash’s first photos on November 26, 2024, just two days before Thanksgiving. Cherelle told CBS Mornings, “Family shoots have become a team effort around here. It’s a series of smiles, tears, feeding and naps. We love every second and can’t wait to take our first Christmas picture as a family.”
How Brittney and Cherelle met and got married?
The Connecticut Sun center and Cherelle, who is a lawyer, first met while studying at Baylor University in Texas. They got married in June 2018, as per Page Six. Some earlier reports had wrongly said they married in 2019.
Their relationship first grabbed headlines in 2022, when Cherelle, 33, became one of the loudest voices pushing for Brittney’s release after the basketball star was detained in Russia. She had been caught carrying vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage. Brittney was convicted on drug-smuggling charges and sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony. She was freed in December 2022 as part of a high-profile prisoner exchange.
This marks Brittney’s second divorce. The Olympic gold medalist was previously married to fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson. That marriage lasted just weeks before Brittney filed for an annulment in 2015.
