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Brittney Griner vs. The Gender Pay Gap

By Shampale Fenessa / August 5, 2022
Photo credit: Sphilbrick • CC BY-SA 3.0 Brittney Griner accepting Wade Trophy at the WBCA Awards show in Denver Colorado. The male is the State Farm Representative.

Brittney Griner was arrested in February over alleged traces of hashish oil. The No.1 overall WNBA pick in 2013 was sentenced to 9 years in a Russian prison. Griner was on her way to play basketball when customs officials allegedly discovered contraband in her bag.

The seven-time WNBA All-Star remained in Russian custody for more than five months.

On Thursday night, the Phoenix Mercury and the Connecticut Sun joined at half court for 42 seconds, Brittney Griner’s jersey number, to recognize the two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.

Members of the Connecticut Sun wore shirts honoring Griner before their game against the Phoenix Mercury.

The Dallas Wings and Las Vegas Aces also stood in solidarity to free Griner.

The thing about WNBA players hooping overseas that most people don’t realize or forget is that overseas play is a necessary part of life for WNBA players.

Overseas teams offer top players more than $1 million, nearly quadrupling what they can make as a base salary in the WNBA.

 

They have also paid top players enormous salaries to not play in the WNBA. As reported by ESPN, Diana Taurasi opted to rest for the 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian club team, the same team with Griner on its roster.

 

WNBA stars have long supplemented their WNBA incomes by playing overseas. Unlike their NBA counterparts, the WNBA season is much shorter, and they pay much less.

Griner plays for UMMC Ekaterinburg, a Russian women’s basketball team based in Yekaterinburg, competing in the Russian Premier League until February 2022 in FIBA Europe’s EuroLeague Women. In reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, EuroLeague Women suspended the club in February.

 

According to CBS Sports, Griner reportedly earns $1 million per season to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg. She signed a 3-year contract with Phoenix Mercury, including an annual average salary of $221,515.

If we talk about Griner breaking Russian laws, we can’t dismiss the gender pay gap in sports.

Would the two-time US Olympic basketball gold medalist be in this position if basketball didn’t have one of the most significant gender pay gaps in sports? The answer is one that we all know.

 

Two years ago, the WNBA reached a labor agreement that shifted the compensation and resources available to players for the first time, creating opportunities for WNBA players’ contracts to exceed six figures.

Basketball has one of the worst gender pay gaps compared to other sports. Women’s basketball has a long way to go.

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