WNBA: Can Brittney Griner lead the Phoenix Mercury to another WNBA championship?

Because Diana Taurasi won’t play in the 2014-15 WNBA season can Brittney Griner lead the Phoenix Mercury to back-to-back WNBA Championships?

The WNBA offseason has had a lot of change for the Phoenix Mercury’s center, Brittney Griner.

She recently became a WNBA champion after her team defeated the Chicago Sky 3-0 in the 2014 WNBA finals. She made a guest appearance on your mother’s favorite television show Say Yes to the Dress. She got to keep indulging in her love of bacon. She even made sales by selling your younger brother’s favorite bowtie, but most importantly, she’s getting ready to the next big step in her career as a professional basketball player.

After becoming a champion last September, the only question a lot of people want to know is if Griner can win another championship.

More from Miscellaneous

If you haven’t heard the news, Diana Taurasi isn’t going to play next season in the WNBA. Taurasi was the winner of the finals MVP award and she’s arguably the best player in women’s basketball. For the sport of women’s basketball her unavailability is a huge loss knowing that the face of basketball isn’t going to play in the United States.

However, on a more micro level this impacts the Mercury in a huge way knowing that they will not have their best player on the roster next season. The Mercury are looking to accomplish back-to-back championships and not having Taurasi on their team is going to hurt.

But who honestly can blame Taurasi? She’s going to make more money playing in Russia, than the United States.

The person who shouldn’t feel sorry for Taurasi’s loss is her Mercury teammate, Griner. The 24-year-old center from Houston, Texas, now has the opportunity to lead the Mercury to a second straight championship, and in the process Griner could become the face of the WNBA.

Granted, Taurasi is a great player and one of the best to ever play in the game. The reason why Taurasi was able to play so aggressively though is because she had Griner protecting her back. In the finals Griner also showed that she was up to par to help lead the Mercury, and her numbers alone could’ve given her the MVP award. In the two games she played in Griner nearly averaged a triple double recording stats of 15.5 points on 57 percent shooting, 6.5 rebounds, 1 assist and 6 blocks per game.

Now that the spotlight is going to shine on her even more it’s going to become extremely difficult to miss her. Then again, there’s no reason to want to. Because Griner physically stands above most of her competition it’s always fun to see the joy that she plays the game of basketball with. On the court Griner is the person who’s often jovial and happy. She’s the one person who’s jumping around and getting the crowd hype. But she’s also the one person who’s willing to play physical in the paint if it comes down to it.

Sep 12, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner (left) and guard Diana Taurasi (right) celebrate with the WNBA championship trophy after defeating the Chicago Sky 87-82 in game three of the 2014 WNBA Finals at UIC Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

That physicality is the reason why Griner’s game gotten better from her college days where she set a NCAA career record with 748 blocked shots, and also was named the second-leading scorer in women’s Division I history with 3,283 points.

Additionally, the 6’8 center also accomplished a lot of success as she led the Baylor Bears to a National Championship in her junior season, and graduated from the university with a 135-15 overall record.

Since Griner began playing in the WNBA in 2013, she’s been exactly what everyone thought she would become as a professional basketball player, an absolute leviathan. In her two seasons playing in the WNBA she’s averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 3.4 blocked shots per game, while only playing in 28.6 minutes. She’s also managed to rack up accomplishments in her first two seasons in the league.

In addition to being a league champion, Griner’s already a two-time All-Star, she’s led the league in blocked shots twice, and she’s won the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

Now that the best player in women’s basketball isn’t going to play on her team, Griner’s numbers are in a prime position to explode next season and become even better. Even though a lot of people expected her to become a walking 20-10, she’s just beginning her third year in the league, so she’s going to get even better, especially on offense.

Losing Taurasi will ultimately hurt the Mercury. Losing the best player on any team is going to hurt. Thankfully because of Griner, the change from Taurasi being the focal point of the offense to her should become a smooth one. What’s even better is that Griner won’t have to do it all alone.

The Mercury have one of the deepest teams in the league and it’s the reason why they wont the finals last season. With players on the roster such as DeWanna Bonner, Candice Dupree and Penny Taylor, all of which played a huge impact in the WNBA finals, Griner’s team is still talented enough to reach the mountain top.

The Mercury aren’t going to miss a beat next year, and it’s not a coincidence that Griner played on the same team early in her career with Taurasi. Now that the two won’t be teammates on the Mercury, Griner should apply everything she’s learned from the greatest women’s player of our generation.

Can Griner do it though? Can she lead the Mercury back to the promised land? Getting past Maya Moore isn’t the most simple task for anyone.

Next: The 3 Sides of the WNBA: Serious, sexy & showtime

More from FanSided