Brittney Griner Knife Attack in China: WNBA Star Slashed on Team Bus

WNBA superstar Brittney Griner was cut on her elbow after a knife-yielding man attacked the Phoenix Mercury center and her teammates after their team practice on Monday in Shenyang, China.

ESPN reported that Griner, who is currently playing for the Beijing Great Wall, was walking with her teammates from the practice arena when a man approached them and chased them onto their team bus. The man began swinging his knife wildly, cutting Griner on her elbow.

Fortunately, Griner was wearing a winter coat and did not sustain serious damage. The 24-year-old was not rushed to a hospital after the incident because the cut did not require stitches.

According to Griner's agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, the group of players was trapped inside the bus for almost five minutes before the man left the scene and was apprehended by authorities. Sources also indicated that one of Griner's teammates was also stabbed, but did not sustain any injury because she was wearing two jackets.

"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.

"The guy was clearly either mentally ill or very drunk. He was yelling about us hitting his wife and it was pretty clear he had no idea who we were," the 2014 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year added.

Griner played for the Beijing Great Wall on Tuesday and proved that she is OK as she tallied 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds and six blocks against the Liaoning Hengye. After the game, Griner said that she saw security improvements.

"The game the next day had more security than I had ever seen," Griner said. "There were three to four cops at every entrance. They were everywhere and the team said they were going to make sure and add more security now too."

Griner, the first overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, helped the Mercury win the championship last season and was also a part of the U.S. women's basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup for Women last month.