Freshly freed basketball star Brittney Griner has left a military medical facility in Texas and is headed back to her home in Arizona, where she intends to play for the Phoenix Mercury this season, she announced on Friday.

Posting to her Instagram feed, the two-time Olympic gold medalist who was freed from Russian detainment on Dec. 8 announced "It feels so good to be home!"

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Griner shared a post to Instagram where she thanked the Biden Administration, the WNBA and her teammates, and advocated for the release of fellow American Paul Whelan.

Griner had been in Russia since February, on charges of carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is illegal in Russia. Ending up in a penal colony, Griner's release was negotiated by the Biden administration and involved a prisoner swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner, 32, thanked the staff at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where she was brought following the prisoner swap to recover from her imprisonment. She also made note of everyone who had prayed for and posted about her situation and especially thanked the Biden administration for its work and commitment toward freeing Americans.

"President Biden, you brought me home and I know you are committed to bringing Paul Whelan and all Americans home too," she said. "I will use my platform to do whatever I can to help you. I also encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home. Every family deserves to be whole."

Paul Whelan is an American who has been detained in Russia since 2018 and was given a 16-year prison sentence for espionage.

"Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul's case different than Brittney's. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul's release, we are not giving up. We will never give up," President Biden said in remarks shortly after Griner's release was made public.

"I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury this season," Griner said.

Griner has played nine seasons for the Mercury, earning eight all-star selections in that span. Griner helped lead the Mercury to the franchise's third WNBA title in 2014 and has career averages of 17 points and 7 rebounds.

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