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Brittney Griner's return to the WNBA with the Phoenix Mercury will be the first of 25 regular-season broadcasts on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 this season, it was announced Wednesday.

The networks will also air playoff games, and the WNBA All-Star Game will make its ABC primetime debut July 15 in Las Vegas (8:30 p.m. ET).

Griner, who missed last season after she was detained for 10 months in Russia before her release in a high-profile prisoner swap, will make her return with the Phoenix Mercury as they visit the Los Angeles Sparks when the season tips off May 19 (11 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App).

Griner, who also played pro basketball in Russia, was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport in February 2022 after Russian authorities said she was carrying vape canisters with cannabis oil. The U.S. State Department had declared Griner to be "wrongfully detained." She returned to the United States in December and signed in February with the Mercury, who drafted her No. 1 in 2013.

As part of the broadcast coverage, there also is "WNBA Countdown presented by Google," an ESPN-produced pregame show that will air before at least 10 regular-season broadcasts and during the postseason.

"As we get set to tip off our 27th season, ESPN is once again stepping up as an incredibly engaged broadcast partner for the WNBA," league commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. "We are grateful that ESPN will provide significant opportunities to tell the stories of the incredible players across the league in 2023.

"From tip-off weekend through the highly anticipated postseason, ESPN and Google will continue to serve our growing fan base and deliver a robust national platform for WNBA players with game broadcasts and new, regular-season pregame shows."

Opening weekend also includes an ABC doubleheader on May 20 that features the Atlanta Dream visiting the Dallas Wings (1 p.m. ET) and the Seattle Storm hosting the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.

The Dream acquired guard Allisha Gray, the 2017 WNBA Rookie of the Year, from Dallas via a trade in January. On Tuesday, the Dream extended Gray's contract through 2025, a source told ESPN.

Seattle lost coveted free agent Breanna Stewart to the New York Liberty and Sue Bird to retirement, but the team returns All-Star Jewell Loyd. The Aces are led by WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson and fellow standouts Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, and they also added free agent Candace Parker.

Two of Stewart's games against her former team will also air on the ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 platform when the Liberty and the Storm clash in Seattle on May 30 (ESPN2, 9 p.m. ET), and in New York on July 8 (ESPN, 1:30 p.m. ET).

The opening weekend concludes May 21, when the Mercury host the Chicago Sky in a rematch of the 2021 WNBA Finals (4 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Star guard Courtney Vandersloot left the Sky in free agency and joined Stewart in New York. The Liberty, who also added 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones in a trade, will have nine regular-season games shown on ESPN platforms. The Aces will appear seven times.

New York and Las Vegas meet on ABC on Aug. 6 (3 p.m. ET).

Six teams will be showcased four times: Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, the Washington Mystics and the Connecticut Sun.

"As ESPN enters its 27th season with the WNBA, we continue to elevate our coverage of this exceptional league with premier broadcast windows, expanded studio programming and best-in-class storytelling," said Matt Kenny, ESPN's vice president of programming and acquisitions. "Our ongoing collaboration with the WNBA resulted in unprecedented growth and success last year and we have a marquee schedule that will once again showcase the league's best players and teams across ESPN platforms."

The WNBA's complete television and streaming schedule for all networks will be announced at a later date.

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Taylor Mania is running wild in the Valley this weekend. The pop icon is kicking off her highly anticipated Eras Tour at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Friday and Saturday night — and it's safe to say there’s been a lot of hype for the shows.

The city of Glendale has temporarily been renamed “Swift City, Eras-zona” in honor of the occasion. Both concerts have been sold out for months, though you can buy tickets through resellers. Concert traffic will be backed up for miles to get into parking lots.

If you’d like to experience the hype for yourself and attend one of T-Swizzle’s concerts this weekend, here’s a cheat sheet with info on tickets, parking, security, and everything else you need to know.

The gates at State Farm Stadium, 1 East Cardinals Drive in Glendale, open at 4:30 p.m. The concert starts at 6:30 p.m. with an opening set by Gayle, followed by Paramore.

How Can I Get Tickets to the Taylor Swift Concert?

At this point, resellers are the only places with tickets at the moment. StubHub currently has seats ranging from $339 for the upper levels to $2,272 for primo floor seats. VividSeats has tickets ranging from $335 to $5,685.

How Do I Get to State Farm Stadium?

State Farm Stadium is located off of Maryland and 95th avenues. If you’re using surface streets, take Glendale Avenue. If you’re taking the freeway, take Loop 101 and exit at Glendale Avenue, Maryland Avenue, or Cardinals Way.

It’s all pretty much the same. Freeways like Interstate 10 or Loop 101 are the most direct option but will take longer due to traffic jams and roadwork restrictions. Expect very heavy traffic from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. each night and allow for extra time (anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes of travel time).

Where Can I Park at State Farm Stadium for Taylor Swift?

In any of the various lots surrounding the stadium, all of which are accessible off 91st Avenue. It’s $30 per vehicle to park. You can also purchase parking in advance through SeatGeek, which costs between $25 to $100.

Westgate Entertainment District, 6770 North Sunset Boulevard in Glendale, is adjacent to State Farm Stadium and offers dozens of bars and restaurants.

Will Security Screen People Entering the Concert?

Yes. They’ll conduct screening with a metal detector and a search of all bags and other items being carried into the event. Attendees will be asked to return prohibited items to their cars.

The following items won’t be allowed into State Farm Stadium:

Where Can I Get Taylor Swift Merch?

A pair of trailer-sized merch booths will be set up outside the stadium and offer all manner of items and apparel for sale.

According to the State Farm Stadium website, the concert will go until approximately 11:30 p.m.

The Phoenix Suns almost acquired a $60 million star and a $13 million forward at the trade deadline.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported on March 2 that Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley nearly went to the Suns in a three-team trade involving the Utah Jazz and Atlanta Hawks. John Collins would have gone from Atlanta to Utah and Jae Crowder and Landry Shamet would have landed in Atlanta.

“Atlanta also tried to acquire Crowder in three-team trade talks with Utah and Phoenix centered around Collins going to Utah, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley going to Phoenix, and Crowder and Shamet going to Atlanta,” Scotto reported. “Among the reasons this scenario didn’t materialize was a disagreement in draft pick compensation that would’ve gone to Utah in the talks.”

The Suns wound up trading Crowder to the Brooklyn Nets as part of the blockbuster Kevin Durant deal. Brooklyn then sent Crowder to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, acquired Vanderbilt and Beasley from the Jazz for Russell Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and a 2027 first-round pick. Los Angeles also got D’Angelo Russell from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Kevin Durant Is Shooting Standstill Shots

Durant sprained his left ankle before the Oklahoma City Thunder game on March 8. The two-time Finals MVP is able to shoot standstill shots.

“It’s just part of his progression,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said. “He hasn’t done anything outside of that. We obviously have to not just be careful, but a lot of boxes need to be checked. So we’ll see how he responds to standard shooting today, we’ll re-evaluate tomorrow and every day is a progression. That’s what he’s done. It’s a normal progression to this type of injury and that’s just where he is right now. Now he’s just doing standstill shots.”

Durant has played in three games with the Suns since being acquired from the Nets. The one-time MVP is averaging 26.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 69.0% from the field, 53.8% from beyond the arc and 88.2% from the free-throw line. The Suns are 3-0 with Durant in the lineup.

“We want him to be healthy,” Suns guard Terrence Ross said. “We want him to get right. It’s all about taking the right steps and make sure he does the right things and is taking the precautions to have him out there and stay healthy. Anytime you can get KD back on the court, it’s great. It’s good seeing him out there.”

Bleacher Report Has the Suns in 7th Place in Their Power Rankings

Bleacher Report has the Suns in seventh place in the latest power rankings. Phoenix has a record of 38-32 on the season.

“As it turns out, having Kevin Durant in the lineup is pretty important,” Andy Bailey wrote on March 17. “With him on the sidelines, the Phoenix Suns just went through a three-game losing streak. Their only win of the week was a squeaker against the rebuilding Orlando Magic. Still, they don’t get dinged too much. The teams they faced in the streak were the Sacramento Kings, the Chase Center version of the Golden State Warriors and the Milwaukee Bucks. Those are droppable games for anyone. And it’s impossible to ignore the championship upside this team has when everyone is healthy.”

February's parting gift to Arizona is another round of winter storm warnings throughout the Grand Canyon State, with heavy snow set to blanket the high country.

Coming off the heels of a memorable storm system in northern Arizona, snow is once again back on the menu.

"We have a very dynamic, high impact, winter storm due to hit northern Arizona starting late tonight and continuing through Wednesday night," National Weather Service Flagstaff office meteorologist-in-charge Brian Klimowski told The Arizona Republic. "We're looking at very heavy snow, rapid accumulations, with the heaviest snow falling Wednesday afternoon and early evening."

For the Flagstaff area, snowfall is expected to be anywhere from 15 to 22 inches, with local accumulations potentially exceeding that in some areas. To put this into context, the average snowfall for the month of March alone in Flagstaff is around 15.8 inches, something that could easily be surpassed after Wednesday night.

"This is a big storm. Potentially one of the highest impact winter storms we've had in this series we've seen this winter," Klimowski said.

A caveat to this, however, is that winds will not be nearly as devastating as they were last week. The tradeoff is simply more snow.

"Last week we had the wind, the extremely strong and damaging winds. The winds won't be as strong as last week, but we will certainly have more snow," Klimowski said.

Thankfully, this iteration of storms isn't expected to come in waves, rather it'll begin to slow down after one night.

"Things will taper off on Wednesday night, we will see clearing on Thursday," Klimowski said.

Hopefully, that can serve as a trend as in the month of February, Flagstaff received nearly 33 inches of snow, a month when they usually average only 18.6 inches.

For the year, snow totals in northern Arizona are ridiculous: 118 inches in Flagstaff, 134 inches in Bellemont and 187 inches at the Grand Canyon North Rim.

There's a positive to this, though. Overwhelming snow totals have helped to alleviate drought conditions felt throughout Flagstaff and the state as a whole.

"We are no longer in a drought status here in the Flagstaff area. The robust monsoon we had last year and the wet and snowy winter we've had so far has alleviated our drought conditions here," Klimowski said.

Helpful links: Arizona sees drought relief following snow, rainstorms

As for drivers, travel conditions will be heavily affected by the snow. No closures have been announced but travel conditions can always be checked at az511.gov to stay up to date.

"We encourage drivers traveling in winter weather to leave before the storm or delay travel until the storm has passed. Motorists should always check the forecast before traveling and have a winter emergency kit in their vehicle. Additional winter travel tips can be found at azdot.gov/KnowSnow," the Arizona Department of Transportation told The Republic in a statement.

Southwest winds, rain and snow?

Phoenix and southern Arizona may pale in comparison to the high country, but there could be some snow in those places, too.

According to the National Weather Service Phoenix office, Tuesday is slated to remain sunny with highs in the 60s until things take a slight turn on Wednesday.

At the top of the forecast, wind advisories have been issued across a good portion of the state and even into Southern California.

"It's not going to be quite as intense as last Wednesday's wind event, it will be a little bit more impactful for our southeast California-southwest Arizona region. There we'll see a lot of wind advisories," said National Weather Service Phoenix office meteorologist Jessica Leffel.

Peak gusts for much of the Southwest are in the range of 45-55 mph, with the greater Phoenix area hovering around 40-45 mph.

Arizonans can also plan on getting some good rain in beginning around noon on Wednesday.

"We're thinking of the timing of that is going to probably begin around noon on Wednesday and then showers are going to continue into early Thursday morning," Leffel said.

As for snow, elevations of around 3,000 feet can expect anywhere between 2 and 7 inches, with elevations above 5,000 feet receiving 6 to 12 inches.

Moving forward, conditions after Wednesday are planned to return to normal, with sunnier skies and temperatures climbing back up into the mid-70s by the weekend.

The Oklahoma City Thunder (34-36) look to extend a four-game home winning run when hosting the Phoenix Suns (38-32) on Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 3:30 PM ET.

The Thunder are a slight 1-point favorite against the Suns. The game’s over/under is set at 234.

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