Brittney Griner’s WNBA return puts player salaries back in focus

 A love of basketball doesn’t keep the lights on; that’s how Brittney Griner explained what pushes so many professional women basketball players from the United States to leave the country to play the game.

The search for salaries befitting world-class athletes is also why Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, travelled last year to Russia – setting off a 10-month ordeal that saw her arrested, convicted on drug charges, and jailed in a penal colony.

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But for Griner, whose detention and release in a prisoner swap in December drew headlines around the world, the days of playing abroad are behind her.

“I can say for me, I’m never going overseas to play again unless I’m representing my country at the Olympics,” the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star said on April 27 in her first official news conference since returning to the US.

Still, with the new WNBA season set to begin this week – and Griner playing her first regular season game back with the Phoenix Mercury on May 19 – the US league faces continued questions about why so many of its top stars go abroad to supplement their salaries and make what experts say they are worth.

In recent years, nearly half of all WNBA players have played in leagues across Europe, as well as in Turkey, Australia and elsewhere, during the league’s off-season. Many take home salaries that dwarf what they can make in the US.

The whole reason a lot of us go over is the pay gap. A lot of us go over there to make an income and support our families, to support ourselves,” said Griner, who was detained at the airport in Moscow in February 2022 while on her way to play for local team UMMC Ekaterinburg.

“It’s a shame that we have to leave our families for holidays. I mean, you’re missing everything being away,” she said. “But at the same time, as much as I would love to pay my light bill [with] the love of the game, I can’t, you know?”