Brittney Griner reveals she wants her newborn son to call her ‘POPS’ not mom, leaving fans to question ‘why is he in the WNBA?’
WNBA star Brittney Griner revealed a controversial name she’d like to give her newborn son.
Griner and his wife Cherelle welcomed their first child together, 19 months after the WNBA star was released from a Russian penal colony.
The 33-year-old announced the birth of their son during WNBA All-Star weekend and admitted she’s overjoyed to welcome their little miracle into the world.
However, the basketball star also indicated that she did not want to be known as “mom,” but instead as “pops.”
In an interview with CBS Sports’ We Need To Talk, host Terrika Foster-Brasby enthusiastically congratulated Griner, saying, “You’re going to be a mom soon!”
Brittney Griner Revealed She Wants Her Son to Know Her as ‘Pops’ and Not ‘Mom’
But the Phoenix Mercury Center playfully stepped in to correct her, saying, “Pops! Pops!”
Griner waved away the moment, saying her son had actually already been born.
“I’m super excited,” she said when asked about the pregnancy. “Well, I mean, I guess I’ll just drop it… he’s here. Seven pounds eight ounces. Yeah, that’s my husband!”
Several basketball fans were confused by Griner’s less-than-traditional parenting decision, with one even asking, “If she calls herself ‘pops,’ why would she want to play in a women’s league?”
Another asked on social media: ‘Are they letting men into the WNBA now???’
Despite fans’ confusion, Griner has maintained that she is a biological female and identifies as female.
In a 2015 interview with ESPNGriner spoke candidly about her body and the criticism she’s faced.
“I’m sure people will make a lot of critical comments,” she said, referring to the photos of herself in ESPN’s “Body Issue.”
Griner (right) and his wife Cherelle (left) welcomed their first child together – a baby boy
Several basketball fans were confused by Griner’s less than traditional parenting decision
“Yo, she’s a man!” But hey, that’s my body and I look the way I look. People are either going to accept me for who I am or not. I don’t know what people think I’m hiding.
‘I’ve heard, “Oh, she’s not a woman, she’s a man.” I’ve been told, “Oh, she’s putting stuff in.” They thought I was quitting. I mean, [in the Body Issue] it’s there. Let me show that I embrace the flatness! I just want people to see someone who embraces being naked, who embraces everything about being different.’
She also said that as a child she was called a boy and was even thrown out of the women’s restroom.
“I used to get called a boy all the time,” she said. “When I go to the bathroom, I still get that shocked look, like, ‘Are you supposed to be here?’ But I’m so used to it now, I just think, ‘I’m a girl, I’m in the right bathroom.'”
The WNBA champion and her wife announced in April that they were expecting a baby
‘It happens all the time in China! One time when I went to the toilet there, a woman was so shocked that she pushed me out; she was so hysterically shocked that I was in there. I couldn’t do anything but laugh.’
She added that she doesn’t like labels because she feels both feminine and masculine, but as a child she felt forced to choose one.
Griner had twins with his ex-wife and fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson in 2015, but the couple split a year later.
Still, having another child with Cherelle has reminded the 33-year-old how great the feeling is.
“He’s amazing,” Griner continued. “They say the minute you see them, everything you thought mattered just goes out the window, and that’s literally what happens.
‘It’s a shame that I have to leave, but on the other hand he’ll understand.’
Brittney and Cherelle got engaged in 2018, but four years later, Cherelle was arrested at a Moscow airport after Russian authorities alleged she entered the country with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil.
Griner was infamously released from a Russian penal colony after being arrested in Moscow
Griner was held in a detention center near Moscow until November of that year, when she was transferred to an undisclosed prison.
She was then transferred to a penal colony in Mordovia, a Russian region about 300 miles (480 kilometers) southeast of Moscow, to serve her nine-year sentence on drug charges.
Ultimately, the 6-foot-1 WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist was released in December 2022 in a prisoner swap with arms dealer Viktor Bout after serving 10 months in prison.
Griner recently signed a new contract with Phoenix Mercury, her only WNBA team, in preparation for this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.