Brittney Griner has gone viral this week after social media users discovered what her voice sounds like – something her parents took her to the hospital to examine when she was younger

Brittney Griner #42 of the Atlanta Dream warms up prior to a preseason game against the Indiana Fever on May 10, 2025 at Gateway Center Arena in College Park
Atlanta Dream star Brittney Griner discussed the crushing comments she receives about her voice(Image: Getty Images)

WNBA star Brittney Griner has opened up about the taunts and teasing she suffered growing up about her voice, admitting it causes a part of her to “die everyday”.

The Atlanta Dream center has been the subject of much discussion this week, with many basketball fans on social media only just hearing her speak after old videos of her went viral. Fans on X and TikTok in their thousands voiced their surprise at how deep they believed the 34-year-old’s voice to be.

But the 2014 WNBA champion and 10x All-Star, who comes from Houston, Texas, has addressed her deeper voice already. She talked in a recent interview with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts about her struggles in the past.

Griner, who is 6ft 9in tall, admitted her parents thought there was something wrong with her as a kid, which saw them take her to the doctors. She also explained how she has felt isolated at points in her career amid the public scrutiny over her appearance.

Griner began by saying: “My parents really wanted to make sure I didn’t have a tumor on my pituitary gland. At one point I was like, ‘Can we stop?’ Because it didn’t feel the best and I felt like a lab rat a little bit.”

She added: “When you’re born with a body like mine, a part of you dies every day. With every mean comment and lingering stare, you’re the biggest person in the room but you’re also the loneliest.

“Not a lot of people understand what it is to walk in my shoes. I just feel so isolated at times.”

When asked if basketball was a way she could feel seen, Griner replied: “Yeah, it was definitely a home for me. I could be the way I was intended to be and that’s big and different.”

Griner was named as the US No. 1 high school women’s basketball player in 2009 and was selected to the 2009 All-American basketball team. She played college basketball for the Baylor Lady Bears in Waco, Texas, before being selected as the first overall pick in the 2013 WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury.

US Women's National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, sits inside a defendants' cage after the court's verdict during a hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022
Brittney Griner was charged with illegal possession of medical cannabis in Russia and spent 10 months in prison(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

She won the WNBA Championship in 2014 and only left to join Atlanta this year. Her staggering WNBA record has seen her twice be crowned the scoring champion, eight times the blocks leader and earn a spot in three All-WNBA First Teams.

However, Griner would run into trouble while playing in the Russian Premier League during the WNBA off-season in February 2022.

She was arrested on smuggling charges by Russian customs officials after cartridges containing less than a gram of medically prescribed hash oil, which is illegal in Russia, were found in her luggage.

Griner pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to nine years in prison, spending 293 days incarcerated before she was released as part of a prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

After missing the entire 2022 season and only returning to the WNBA in May 2023, she received a standing ovation from the crowd in her first game back.