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‘Why Is He in the WNBA’: Fans React to Brittney Griner Wanting Her Baby Boy To Call Her ‘Pops’ Not ‘Mom’
WNBA player Brittney Griner welcomed a baby with wife Cherelle Griner and is adamant about the baby calling her ‘pop’ instead of ‘mom.’ Here’s how fans reacted to the news.
WNBA star Brittney Griner, who is set to compete with the USA Basketball Olympic team in Paris next month, shared exciting news during All-Star Weekend: her wife Cherelle has given birth to a baby boy.
Griner, who has nine-year-old twins from a previous relationship, made the announcement in an interview with reporter Tarika Foster-Brasby. When Foster-Brasby referred to Griner as "mom," Griner corrected her, saying, "Pops." She repeated "pops" a few times before Foster-Brasby clarified, "Oh, let me get it together. You're about to be a pops."
Brittney Griner then announced that their child is here and he is absolutely amazing.
Fans react to Brittney Griner wanting son to call her Pops instead of Mom
It's definitely a little unusual to hear Griner say she wants her baby to call her ‘pops.’
Many people have questioned whether Griner was actually born male and later transitioned to female. She’s one of the few WNBA players to have dunked a basketball.
However, Brittney Griner maintains that she is a biological woman. In an interview with ESPN in 2015, featured in ESPN The Magazine's ‘Body Issue,’ Brittney said, "I got called a boy all the time. Going into the bathroom, I still get the shocked look, like, ‘Are you supposed to be in here?’ But I'm so used to it now, I'm just like, 'I'm a girl, I'm in the right bathroom.'"
Brittney Griner further said she embraces her differences when it comes to 'body' images. She just wants people to see someone who embraces being naked and everything about them being different. However, when the news broke of Brittney welcoming a child into the world and her mentioning wanting to be a 'pops' to the child, fans reacted strongly on X (formerly Twitter):
One fan said, "She’s confused or that’s really a man."
"How she got a deeper voice than 80% of men. WNBA has no TRT testing? LMAO," joked another.
Another said, "WNBA need to ban this man from the league."
"If he identifies as a man then why is he in the WNBA?" another echoed.
"Shorty u play 'womens' basketball," another fan mentioned.
"My mom always said, 'If you don't have nothing nice to say, then don't say nothing at all...'" joked another.
Despite criticism, Brittney Griner has been through hell and back
Life hasn't been easy for Brittney Griner. In an interview with NBC, she said the upcoming games will mean more than her previous Olympic experiences, adding that she will be playing for the country that literally saved her life.
The Paris games will be the first time Griner has left the country since her Russian detainment. In February 2022, she was arrested in Moscow on drug smuggling charges after vape cartridges were found in her luggage at the airport. She was eventually tried, found guilty, and sentenced to nine years in prison. Griner returned to the U.S. in December 2022 after a prisoner exchange between the two countries.
Since then, she has resumed her WNBA career and continued to thrive. Griner was a WNBA All-Star in 2023 and again this year, currently averaging 18.3 points and 6.4 rebounds a night for the Phoenix Mercury.
Brittney Griner pays child support to first child from ex-wife
Before the Russia incident, Brittney Griner was often in the news due to her relationship with her ex-wife, Glory Johnson. Johnson and Griner, both WNBA players, were married in 2015 and Johnson had to miss the 2015 season due to pregnancy.
The next day, Brittney Griner filed papers requesting the marriage be annulled, stating she was pressured into marriage under duress by Johnson’s threatening statements.
Months later, Johnson requested $20,000 a month in temporary spousal support but was denied. However, an Arizona judge agreed that $2,516.97 is a reasonable monthly payment for child support for Griner to pay, according to ESPN.
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