NEW YORK — The morning of her WNBA debut, Aubrey Griffin's mom found a decade-old photo of her daughter at her first New York Liberty game. Griffin was just 16 years old then, sitting in the stands of her hometown team. Fast forward to Friday night, and the former UConn star was no longer a fan in the crowd—she was on the court, wearing a Liberty jersey for the first time in a professional game.
Growing up in Ossining, just a few miles north of New York City, the Liberty were more than just a team to Griffin. They were a daily reminder of what was possible. "It means a lot, this whole thing," Griffin said after the game. "I'm just grateful for the opportunity, grateful to be here and be given the chance to play out there."
Griffin's journey to the pros was anything but smooth. The 6-foot-1 forward signed with UConn as a top-25 recruit in 2019, but spent six years in college due to two major injuries. She redshirted the 2021-22 season after back surgery, then tore her left ACL midway through 2023-24. The recovery sidelined her until January 2025, and she never regained full strength during her final college season, averaging just 11.3 minutes in 16 games.
The Minnesota Lynx took a chance on Griffin in the 2025 WNBA Draft, selecting her in the third round. But lingering issues with her left knee kept her from reporting to training camp. She had arthroscopic knee surgery last April and spent most of the past year rehabbing, traveling between Minnesota, New York, and Connecticut for treatments. "I've had to fight through a lot of adversity in the past year," Griffin shared. "I just missed being out there and playing ball. Like, I love it, so I was just happy to be out there."
In her debut against the Connecticut Sun, Griffin scored her first professional points late in the fourth quarter, driving past Sun forward Aneesah Morrow for a smooth layup. She played just five minutes, but for Griffin, simply stepping onto the court was the real victory. New York won the game 106-75, but the night belonged to the hometown girl who finally made it to the big stage.