“It’s something that I’ve always went after, the one record that I really cared about and paid attention to,” Griner said after the game. “Blocking shots, I’m helping my team out on defense, keeping them out of the paint, challenging shots, so it’s always made me a good defender when I try to lock in on that.”

Dydek led the WNBA in blocked shots eight times during an 11-year career spanning 323 games. Griner has led the league in blocks eight times as well, though she needed 364 games to reach Dydek’s total. However, Griner missed the entire 2022 season while detained in Russia on drug-smuggling charges. In 2021, the longtime Phoenix Mercury star finished second in the voting for league MVP.  She made the All-Star team in consecutive seasons after her release from Russia and return to the U.S. in December 2022.

The Sun won the game against the Sky, 92-63, and Griner finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. The victory improved their record to 3-15 on the year, their last in Connecticut before they relocate next season to Houston — Griner’s hometown — and rebrand as the once-defunct Comets.

Sabreena Merchant is a women’s basketball Staff Writer for The Athletic. She previously covered the WNBA and NBA for SB Nation. Sabreena is an alum of Duke University, where she wrote for the independent student newspaper, The Chronicle. She is based in Los Angeles.