WNBA superstar Brittney Griner reveals bold new look for 2025

WNBA star Brittney Griner appears to be debuting a new look in the new year as she announced her upcoming transformation via Instagram.

The Phoenix Mercury center has had to undergo many hair transformations in recent years after her incarceration in a Russian penal colony.

The 34-year-old was jailed in Russia in 2022 after being arrested at a Moscow airport and sentenced to nine years in prison on drug-related charges.

However, she was released in December 2022 as part of a prisoner swap between the United States and Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Yet during her 10-month captivity, Griner was forced to endure horrific conditions that even affected her hair.

In 2022, Griner’s Russian lawyer Maria Blagovolina revealed that the Olympic gold medalist was forced to cut off her signature dreadlocks after they froze in the brutally cold Russian winter.

Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport and sentenced to nine years in prison

However, just over two years after her release, Griner has revealed that she is bringing back the hairstyle.

Griner took to her Instagram Stories to respond to a fan who asked if she was growing her hair back.

‘I certainly am! Curl BG was cool, but Dread Head BG is better,” the six-time WNBA All-Star wrote alongside a photo of the top of her head.

The photo, taken by Grinner from above her head, showed her hair in its pre-loc stage.

Griner, who welcomed a baby boy with wife Cherelle in July, had been sentenced to nine years in prison after being caught with a cannabis oil cartridge when she returned to Russia to resume playing for her European team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, in February 2022.

She was released in December 2022 in a 1-for-1 swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who has since been criticized for failing to return Paul Whelan, a US Marine jailed in 2018 on espionage charges.

Amid conditions in the Russian penal colony, which she says left her feeling “less than human” and even considering suicide, Griner was forced to shave off her dreadlocks after they froze and spiders built nests in her hair.

In her memoir ‘Coming Home’ she revealed that she had to ask permission to shave her head.

The WNBA star was forced to shave off her dreadlocks in prison after they froze

The basketball superstar endured horrific conditions in Russian prison for 10 months

Since her release during a prisoner exchange, Griner has worn her natural curls in a short hairstyle

‘My dreads had become tangled over the months. At IK-2 they froze together. My frozen locs started molding under that covering,” Griner wrote. ‘After I showered, they took three days to dry. While exercising on cold mornings, I literally felt a cold coming on.’

Since returning to the US, Griner has opted to rock her natural curls in a short style, but she’s now bringing back her classic dreadlocks for 2025 – and the impending new WNBA season.

She averaged 17.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the 2024 season, and also claimed her third gold medal with Team USA at the Paris Olympics.

Before the Phoenix kick off its new campaign in May, Griner is scheduled to compete in the 3×3 ‘Unrivaled’ league this offseason, which has given WNBA players the opportunity to remain in the U.S. rather than look for playing opportunities abroad in Europe.