Brittney Griner and three of her teammates were attacked in China on Monday by a man wielding a knife. Griner, who is currently playing for the Beijing Great Wall, was cut on the elbow.
Griner took to Instagram on Tuesday to let everyone know she is doing fine. She described the incident.
“First let me say I’m ok!!!!” she wrote. “But last night me and 3 my teammates got chase and attack by a man with a big ass knife got a little scratch and my teammates walk away unharmed! He chase us into our bus and had us (cornered) yelling at us then he finally left! Ugh lets just say I’m ready to get out this city we are visiting! Life can be took at any moment! Cherish every moment! AGAIN IM OK! Thank you to everyone that has been checking on me!”
The assailant reportedly yelled at the women and swung the knife around, nicking Griner on the elbow at one point. She told The Associated Press that she suspected the attacker was drunk.
“I was thinking I was going to end up stabbed in China and if he got to us at the back of the bus, I was going to have to fight this man with a knife,” said in an email. “The guy was clearly either mentally ill or very drunk. He was yelling about us hitting his wife and it was pretty clear he had no idea who we were.”
Griner, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury, said she still feels safe in China despite the incident.
“The game the next day had more security than I had ever seen,” said. “There were three to four cops at every entrance. They were everywhere and the team said they were going to make sure and add more security now too.”
Fortunately no one was seriously injured. It sounds like the incident could have been much worse.
