WNBA’s Brittney Griner injured in knife attack in China

Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury suffered a cut to her elbow Monday during a knife attack following a practice with her team in China, according to multiple reports.

In an apparent random attack, a man wielding a knife and screaming chased Griner and her teammates onto their bus and swiped at the former Baylor star, her agent Lindsay Colas told the Associated Press.

Griner, who was wearing a winter jacket, suffered only a small cut and did not need medical attention for her injuries.

“I was thinking I was going to end up stabbed in China and if he got to us at the back of the bus, I was going to have to fight this man with a knife,” Griner said in an email to the Associated Press.

One of her teammates also was injured by the man, but because she was wearing two jackets at the time the knife did not penetrate her skin, according to Colas.

The man was later apprehended by Chinese authorities.

“The guy was clearly either mentally ill or very drunk,” Griner said. “He was yelling about us hitting his wife and it was pretty clear he had no idea who we were.”

Griner is playing her second season in China and first with the Beijing Great Wall.

Griner averaged 15.6 points and eight rebounds per game in her second season with the Mercury. The former No. 1 overall draft pick was also named an All-Star for the second time and helped lead Phoenix to its third WNBA title.

Phoenix swept the Chicago Sky in three games, though Griner missed the championship-clinching game because of an eye injury she suffered in Game 2.

Griner also helped Team USA claim its second consecutive world title in October at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Istanbul.

Follow Matt Wilhalme on Twitter @mattwilhalme

The Associated Press contributed to this report