In My Skin (26 page)

It wasn't so easy to be myself at Baylor, but I could always count on my “sis” Janell to put a smile on my face when she came to visit.

{Janell Roy}

I broke my wrist skateboarding during my junior year at Baylor. But hey, at least it happened after we won the national championship. Phew.

{Julio Trejo}

My Baylor bros Nash (
left
) and Julio (
right
) joined me at the 2012 ESPY Awards. Frosting on the cake: I took home the trophy for Female Athlete of the Year.

{Julio Trejo}

Stepping forward as the No. 1 pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft felt amazing, thanks to an assist from a stylist. (You can't see here, but I'm wearing white Chuck Taylor sneakers, too.)

{Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE}

Training camp with the Phoenix Mercury took a cool turn when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar showed up to give me some pointers on how to shoot his legendary skyhook. (And yes, I need more practice.)

{Phoenix Mercury/Barry Gossage}

I dunked twice in my first WNBA game. Unfortunately, I also got into foul trouble and we lost to the Chicago Sky, setting the tone for my up-and-down rookie season.

{Barry Gossage/NBAE}

My life was a whirlwind after I turned pro. One of the highlights: a trip to Nike's indoor skate park in LA, where I met (
from left to right
) C. R. Stecyk III, Eric Koston, and Lance Mountain, three legends of the skateboarding scene.

{Yoon Sui}

Keeping my speed in check wasn't a problem during my stop at Nike. I've learned my lesson!

{Yoon Sui}

Now that we're teammates, I see every day why Diana Taurasi is one of the all-time best players in our sport—because her basketball IQ is through the roof. She's like a coach out on the court.

{Phoenix Mercury/Barry Gossage}

Power tie meets power tiger: NBA commissioner David Stern and I compare outfits at the annual WNBA Inspiring Women Luncheon. He's retired now, but he's still a huge supporter of our league.

{Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE}

N
ow everyone knows the real me, my strengths and flaws, my dreams and doubts, the whole story—my story. For so many years, it felt like I was folding myself into a cramped airplane seat (which is why I couldn't help but laugh at being stuck in the middle on my flight to the WNBA All-Star Game). There were times it seemed like no one had any real perspective on who I am, and some of that was my own fault. But now the plane has landed, and I've stood up and stretched out my arms and legs, and people can see all of me. I hope they also see how hard it was stuffing myself into a space that didn't quite fit me—how hard it is for anyone to do that.

Everything depends on perspective, and how much you're willing to let people know the real you. Some tall folks hunch over, trying to make themselves smaller. Some short folks wear heels, trying to make themselves taller. Me? I don't want a hurt back or sore feet. I want to walk along comfortably, content to let people think whatever they're going to think. I've learned, through a lot of trial and error, that the rewards of being authentic far outweigh the risks.

I have spoken my truth, and most people didn't run away from me. They weren't afraid of my sexuality, or my appearance, or my emotions, or my shortcomings. They weren't afraid of my desire to walk a different path from the one that society too often tries to choose for us all—the safe path. If I wanted to play it safe, I would never get out of bed in the morning. I stand out in the world, and I love that about myself. I didn't always feel this way, but I've come to discover that the more I embrace who I am, the more I connect with other people. And the more I connect with other people, the more I learn about myself.

Funny how that works, isn't it?

BRITTNEY GRINER
was a three-time All-American at Baylor University, where she scored 3,283 career points (No. 2 in Division 1 women's history) and blocked 748 shots (No. 1 all-time), while earning national Player of the Year honors in both her junior and senior seasons. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

SUE HOVEY
is a former vice president and executive editor at ESPN. She spent fourteen years with
ESPN The Magazine
and is now an independent writer and editor. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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Cover design by Amanda Kain

Cover photograph © by Danielle Levitt/AUGUST

Unless otherwise indicated, all insert photographs appear courtesy of the Griner family.

I
N MY SKIN
. Copyright © 2014 by Brittney Griner. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or here in after invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.