How Brittney Griner’s Wife Cherelle Stuck By The WNBA Star
Published August 4, 2025 10:30 AM PDT
Brittney Griner‘s been through plenty of ups and downs over the course of her professional and personal lives, and her wife Cherelle‘s been there for many of the athlete’s hills and valleys.
The WNBA star and her spouse met during their college days, although they didn’t start dating until after graduation … and their married life was disrupted when the basketball player was unexpectedly detained on the other side of the world.
We’re going to take a look at the background of the professional athlete’s spouse … and see how she dealt with her wife’s ordeal.
Cherelle’s A Lawyer Based In Atlanta
Cherelle started studying law at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham in 2019, according to People.
The WNBA star’s spouse remained at the institution for three years before she graduated with honors in 2022.
Brittney revealed her wife had officially become a lawyer the following April by sharing a set of photos on her Instagram account, and expressed she was “abundantly proud” of Cherelle in the caption.
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The professional basketball player wrote about the “hard work, determination, and passion” her spouse put into her degree.
The Pair Met In College … And Eventually Started A Family
The Griners’ love story runs deep and way, way, back, as they first met while they were both attending Baylor University in the early 2010s.
The thing is, Cherelle wasn’t Brittney’s first spouse … the WNBA star had been briefly married to fellow professional basketball player Glory Johnson, and although Brittney filed for an annulment after just 28 days of marriage, their divorce wasn’t finalized until 2016.
Griner and Baylor University alum Cherelle eventually reconnected, and they got engaged in August 2018, tying the knot the following June.
Cherelle and Brittney later started a family with the birth of their son Bash, who arrived in July 2024.
Cherelle Advocated For Brittney While The Athlete Was Imprisoned In Russia
Brittney made global headlines in March 2022 — she had been detained in Moscow by Russian authorities the previous month after vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage during a trip to play ball in Russia.
The professional athlete later pleaded guilty to bringing less than a gram of cannabis oil into the country … and although she claimed she’d done so unintentionally, she was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Cherelle expressed she was “hopeless” at times while her spouse was detained, in an interview with People — although she later said she never had to “completely give up hope” about her wife’s situation.
Griner was ultimately returned to the United States in December 2022 as part of a prisoner swap, and her wife recalled the moment she was able to reunite with her spouse as “overwhelmingly happy.”