Brittney Griner left the Mercury after over a decade not just to be closer to family, but because she believed the Dream offered a better fit at this stage of her career. Unfortunately, things haven’t gone as planned. Her season has been far from ideal, and against the Dallas Wings, it hit a new low.

Griner is averaging a career-low 10.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season. To put it in context, she was averaging 17.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season for the Mercury. Adjusting to Karl Smesko’s system clearly hasn’t been smooth. But even with those struggles, what happened tonight against the Wings was simply disappointing.

At the beginning of the third quarter in the match between the Wings and Dream, Griner was involved in a physical tussle with Haley Jones, which resulted in referee Angelica Suffren blowing the whistle and calling a foul against Griner. The Dream Center was certainly not happy with it and confronted the official, who upgraded her foul to a technical. But things went from bad to worse soon enough.

A frustrated Griner appeared to make contact with Suffren, which resulted in another technical and, thus, an automatic ejection from the game.

While not having Griner was definitely a big blow for the Atlanta Dream, they still managed to come back from 4 points down to win the game 88-85. The hero of the night? Naz Hillmon. She dropped 21 points on a scorching 7-of-9 shooting and buried the game-winning three with just 2 seconds left. A clutch moment from a player who’s making a serious case for Sixth Woman of the Year.

This win pushes the Dream up to 5th in the standings with a 16-11 record. Impressively, they’ve taken 3 of their last 5 even without Rhyne Howard. And now, they might be missing Brittney Griner too when they face her former team, the Mercury. Why do we think so? Well, we have our reasons!

Brittney Griner to face punishment following the incident with the official?

Players arguing with the officials has long been a trend in the world of basketball. This is not to throw shade on any player, as the officials aren’t immune from making mistakes and they should be held accountable, but physical confrontation is never the way to go. Even tonight, you might argue the call on Griner was soft, but bumping the official is hardly gaining her any favors.

Back in the 2021 WNBA Finals, Diana Taurasi was fined $2,500 for making contact with an official, this came after she tried to get to teammate Sophie Cunningham during a heated exchange and ended up pushing the ref aside. That incident, reported by Athlon’s Nathan Dougherty, sets a bit of a precedent.

So now the real question is, will Griner face more than just a fine? Could this even lead to a suspension? It’s a situation that definitely needs watching. What do you think about it? Do you think Griner’s actions were justified?