Brittney Griner, the WNBA standout and all-time blocked shots leader, has filed for divorce from her wife, Cherelle Griner, according to court records from Fulton County Superior Court.
The petition was submitted Thursday, July 30. Griner’s attorneys stated in the documents that the marriage is “irretrievably broken” with “no hope of reconciliation.”
The pair wed on June 18, 2018, after first meeting as students at Baylor University. Court filings indicate they entered “a bona fide state of separation” on July 24, 2026.
Griner, 35, is seeking joint legal and physical custody of the couple’s two-year-old son, Bash Raymond Griner, born July 8, 2024. The filing states: “It is in the best interests of the Child that the parties be awarded joint physical custody of the Child on a temporary and permanent basis with the parties having parenting time as determined in accordance with the Child’s best interests.”
She also requested that any child support be set according to Georgia Child Support Guidelines. Equitable division of marital assets, both real and personal, along with debts, is sought as well. Griner asked to retain her separate nonmarital property, including inherited and premarital items.
Cherelle Griner, an attorney whose maiden name is Watson, stood by the basketball star during her nearly 10-month detention in Russia. Griner was arrested in February 2022 at Sheremetyevo International Airport after authorities found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.
She was later sentenced to nine years and held in a penal colony. Cherelle publicly pressed for her release, which came in December 2022 through a U.S.-Russia prisoner exchange involving arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Griner spent last season with the Atlanta Dream before signing with the Connecticut Sun in free agency. She is a 10-time All-Star who previously spent more than a decade with the Phoenix Mercury.
Neither Griner nor Cherelle issued public comments on the filing Friday. Representatives for Griner and her agent did not respond immediately to inquiries. Cherelle could not be reached.
The couple appeared together as recently as January at the premiere of a documentary chronicling Griner’s Russian ordeal and Cherelle’s advocacy. They had shared glimpses of family life in recent weeks, including a video of the three preparing a meal.
This marks Griner’s second marriage. She was briefly wed to former player Glory Johnson in 2015.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 1. The divorce petition asks the court to grant the dissolution and resolve all related matters involving custody, support and property.
