Profile Text
Griner with Olivia Munn at the 2012 ESPY Awards Press Room, Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, 07-11-12, s_bukley /Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Brittney Yevette Griner
Place of Birth: Houston, Harris, Texas, U.S.
Date of Birth: October 18, 1990
Ethnicity: African-American, Louisiana Creole [African, French, distant German and Spanish]
Brittney Griner si an American professional basketball player. A center, she plays for Vinyl BC of the Unrivaled basketball league, and the Connecticut Sun of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was previously with the Phoenix Mercury, Zhejiang Golden Bulls, Beijing Great Wall, UMMC Ekaterinburg, Phantom BC, and the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA. She was a star college player, and has been a three-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women’s national basketball team, a two-time FIBA Women’s World Cup winner, and a six-time WNBA All-Star. She is the only NCAA basketball player to score 2,000 points and block 500 shots, both. She is 6′9″.
Brittney is the daughter of Sandra and Raymond Griner, a deputy sheriff and Vietnam veteran. Her maternal grandparents were Louisiana Creoles. Some of her distant ancestors were Ewe, from Togo. She is married to Cherelle Watson/Griner. She has two children with her former wife, professional basketball/WNBA player Glory Johnson; and a son with Cherelle.
Brittney’s paternal grandfather was Bernice Griner (the son of Arthur Griner and Ellen Rawls). Bernice was born in Texas.
Brittney’s paternal grandmother was Vera Mae Adams (the daughter of Ferney Kaufman Adams and Nancy Cade). Fenrey was the son of Henry Adams, who was born into slavery, and later became a landowner; and of George Ann Leonard.
Brittney’s maternal grandfather was Anthony Willard Metoyer (the son of McNeal Buck Metoyer and Louise Conant). Anthony was born in Melrose, Louisiana. McNeal was the son of Earnest/Ernest Emile Metoyer and Corine Dupree. Louise was the daughter of Adolph T. Conant, Jr. and Rosalie Rose/Rosie Sarpy.
Brittney’s maternal grandmother was Mary Irene Chevalier (the daughter of Wilson Joseph Chevalier and Leola Metoyer). Wilson was the son of Louis Gustave “Augustine” Chevalier and Laura Gertrude Balthazar. Laura’s mother, Catherine Neal, spent forty years in a mental institution, having been committed there in 1898. Brittney’s great-grandmother Leola was the daughter of John Metoyer and Emeline Dubrueil.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2026) stated that Brittney’s genetic ancestry consists of:
*56% African ——–*15% Nigeria ——–*12% Benin & Togo ——–*7% Mali ——–*7% Cameroon ——–*5% Senegal ——–*5% Western Bantu Peoples ——–*2% Yorubaland ——–*2% Central Nigeria ——–*1% North Central Nigeria *42% European ——–*13% Spain ——–*6% France ——–*5% Wales ——–*4% Germanic Europe ——–*4% England & Northwestern Europe ——–*3% Ireland ——–*2% Denmark ——–*2% Norway ——–*2% Scotland ——–*1% Basque *2% Indigenous ——–*1% Indigenous Americas – North ——–*1% Indigenous Americas – Bolivia & Peru
*56% African ——–*15% Nigeria ——–*12% Benin & Togo ——–*7% Mali ——–*7% Cameroon ——–*5% Senegal ——–*5% Western Bantu Peoples ——–*2% Yorubaland ——–*2% Central Nigeria ——–*1% North Central Nigeria *42% European ——–*13% Spain ——–*6% France ——–*5% Wales ——–*4% Germanic Europe ——–*4% England & Northwestern Europe ——–*3% Ireland ——–*2% Denmark ——–*2% Norway ——–*2% Scotland ——–*1% Basque *2% Indigenous ——–*1% Indigenous Americas – North ——–*1% Indigenous Americas – Bolivia & Peru
Sources: Genealogy of Brittney Griner – https://www.geni.com
Genealogies of Brittney’s maternal grandparents, Anthony Willard Metoyer and Mary Irene (Chevalier) Metoyer – https://www.findagrave.com