Cherelle Griner is asking a Georgia court to award her financial support in her split from WNBA star Brittney Griner, citing a "substantial disparity" in income that she says leaves her unable to cover her monthly expenses, a move that sets up a bitter fight over money and custody of the couple's 2-year-old son.
Brittney Griner, the 6-foot-9 Connecticut Sun center, filed for divorce in Fulton County, Georgia, on July 30, listing July 24, 2026, as the date the couple separated. In her petition, she described the eight-year marriage as "irretrievably broken." Cherelle, a 34-year-old lawyer, filed a response that agreed on one point, the marriage is over, but diverged sharply on what comes next, the New York Post reported.
Both filings list the same separation date. Beyond that, the two sides appear headed for a collision over finances and parenting time that could drag one of women's basketball's most prominent figures back into public court proceedings.
In her response, Cherelle told the court she is "unable to meet her reasonable financial needs on a monthly basis without continued support." She pointed to a "substantial disparity" between her income and Brittney's, a gap that is easy to quantify on at least one side. Brittney signed a one-year, $1.19 million maximum contract with the Connecticut Sun for the 2026 season, per salary-tracking site Spotrac.
Cherelle did not publicly specify a dollar figure for the support she is requesting. The filings, as reported, do not reference any prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, and it remains unclear whether one exists.
On custody, Cherelle asked for joint legal custody of the couple's son, Bash Griner, who is two years old. She also requested that the court determine physical custody and parenting time based on the best interests of the child, standard language, but language that signals she is not conceding primary physical custody to Brittney.
The financial dimension of high-profile divorces can escalate fast. A South Korean gaming mogul was recently ordered to pay $1.5 billion in a record-setting settlement, a reminder that courts do not shy away from large awards when the income gap warrants it.
What makes the timeline striking is how compressed it is. On June 22, Cherelle attended a Connecticut Sun game at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. After the Sun beat the Chicago Sky, the couple shared a kiss, a moment captured publicly and reported at the time without any hint of marital trouble.
Thirty-two days later, Brittney filed for divorce. Both parties say they separated on July 24, which means whatever happened between that courtside kiss and the end of the marriage played out in roughly a month.
Neither Brittney nor Cherelle has offered a public explanation for the split. Brittney has not responded publicly to Cherelle's financial support request, and the current status of the proceedings in Fulton County is not clear from available filings.
The case is far from the only celebrity marriage to collapse suddenly in recent months. Lori Loughlin ended her nearly 29-year marriage to Mossimo Giannulli with a divorce filing that caught many observers off guard.
This is not Brittney Griner's first divorce. In 2015, she married fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson. The marriage lasted 28 days before Griner filed for an annulment. Johnson gave birth to twin daughters, Ava Simone and Solei Diem, in October 2015. By April 2016, a court ordered Griner to pay child support to Johnson.
Griner and Cherelle met as students at Baylor University, where Brittney helped the Bears win the 2012 NCAA national championship with a 40-0 undefeated season. They married in June 2018 and, by all outward appearances, built a stable partnership, one that would be tested in ways neither could have anticipated.
In February 2022, Russian officials took Brittney into custody after she was found carrying a vape pen containing hash oil. She was tried, found guilty on drug-related charges, and sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony. Cherelle became the public face of the campaign to bring her home, lobbying officials and speaking to media for months.
That effort ended in December 2022 when Brittney was released through a prisoner swap. The U.S. traded convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner's freedom, a deal that drew sharp criticism from many conservatives who questioned whether the exchange was lopsided and whether it set a dangerous precedent. Griner had been detained for 10 months.
The emotional toll of high-profile breakups is well documented. Actor Frankie Muniz recently described hitting rock bottom after his own divorce, a candid account of how personal turmoil follows even those with resources and public platforms.
The core dispute now is straightforward: Cherelle says she needs financial support, and she wants shared custody of their son. Brittney earns $1.19 million this season from the Sun alone, and while her total income from endorsements and other sources is not detailed in the filings, the WNBA contract establishes a baseline that family courts will examine closely.
Cherelle is a lawyer by profession, which means she is not without earning capacity. But her filing's emphasis on the income gap suggests she will argue that the lifestyle the couple maintained during the marriage, and the financial needs of their child, require ongoing support from the higher earner.
Georgia courts weigh a range of factors in divorce cases, including the length of the marriage, each spouse's financial resources, and the standard of living established during the union. Eight years of marriage and a young child give Cherelle a substantial foundation for her claims.
As previously reported on this site, the financial disputes in the Griner divorce have been building since Cherelle's response landed in Fulton County court, and the custody question adds another layer of complexity that will take months to resolve.
Several questions remain unanswered. Does a prenuptial agreement exist? What are the specific dollar amounts Cherelle is seeking? And will Brittney contest joint custody, or will the fight center entirely on money? None of these details have surfaced publicly.
What has surfaced is a pattern. Griner's first marriage ended in weeks. Her second is ending after eight years, with a child in the middle and a financial fight that could get expensive. The woman who campaigned to bring her home is now asking a judge to make sure she can pay her bills. That is a story that documents itself, and not the kind anyone involved wanted told.
