It’s not unusual for WNBA gamers like Brittney Griner to compete in Russia. Here’s why they do it.

Phoenix Mercury heart Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia for weeks because it escalates its struggle on Ukraine.

Griner, a seven-time WNBA All-Star, has not been allowed to depart the nation after the Russian Federal Customs Service stated it found cartridges containing cannabis oil in her baggage on the Sheremetyevo airport close to Moscow, an offense that would carry a most penalty of 10 years in jail.

Griner’s arrest, which was made public Saturday, has left many informal basketball freelancertamals questioning why she was within the nation within the first place. But it isn’t in any respect unusual for WNBA gamers to compete within the U.S. after which spend the offseason enjoying abroad.

Why do WNBA athletes compete abroad?

Griner has performed the final seven WNBA offseasons with UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia, the place big-name gamers can earn greater than $1 million a yr.

Playing in Europe throughout the offseason offers WNBA gamers a possibility to earn 4 to 5 occasions their salaries within the U.S.

“This is the big paycheck — for all of us,” Todd Troxel told ESPN in 2016, when he was an assistant coach for both UMMC and the Phoenix Mercury. “We all love Phoenix, but ultimately it’s all about here,” he stated, referring to Russia.

Sports specialists say the cash skilled girls basketball gamers can demand abroad is just too good to cross up.

“It’s a sad situation in many regards, but it’s not totally beyond the realm of understanding,” stated Ketra Armstrong, a professor of sport administration and the director of the Center for Race & Ethnicity in Sport on the University of Michigan. “The amount of money that athletes can make throughout other parts of the world is incredible and almost a no-brainer depending on how good you are and your overall market appeal.”

Armstrong stated the attract of enjoying basketball overseas and seeing different components of the world are additionally attracts, even in politically repressive nations like Russia.

“Foreign countries treat their athletes well, and there’s a level of protection they have when in other countries. I can see why after going to a place repeatedly over a period of years, you could feel a sense of safety and maybe even invincibility,” Armstrong stated. “That feeling of being home away from home gives them comfort, and so they don’t have that same level of fear that the average person may have when they think about being in a country abroad.”

How a lot do gamers earn within the WNBA?

In distinction with the pay in lots of overseas leagues, the utmost base wage within the WNBA is $228,000 a yr — the minimal is $60,000 — beneath a collective bargaining settlement that was signed in 2020 and extends by means of 2027.

In a information launch after the settlement was signed, the WNBA stated gamers might earn as much as $500,000 in a season with bonuses, match play and group advertising offers added to the bottom wage.

Griner, 31, has helped the U.S. deliver residence two Olympic gold medals. She has additionally received an WNBA championship and a school nationwide championship.

Griner earned a base wage of $221,000 in the latest season, in response to Spotrac, a database for sports activities salaries. WNBA salaries are notably decrease than these of NBA gamers, usually elevating questions on pay fairness within the WNBA and the NBA, the latter of which has an extended schedule and brings in additional income.

“They don’t make any money. Compared to their NBA counterparts, the money players make in the WNBA is minuscule,” stated Rob Parker, a nationally syndicated radio host for Fox Sports and a sports activities media professor on the University of Southern California. “Many go over there to make more money and then come back to America to play in front of their home fans.”

Days earlier than Russia invaded Ukraine, Connecticut Sun participant Jonquel Jones, who additionally performs in Russia, tweeted her gratefulness at with the ability to play and earn cash overseas.

“Thank God for abroad as a result of my bag would’ve been fumbled,” Jones wrote on Twitter, utilizing a slang phrase for shedding cash. “I’m glad they pay me what I’m price and see the worth in me merely being probably the greatest at my craft.”