How low WNBA salaries led to an American basketball superstar’s detainment in Russia

• American basketball star Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia and faces drug smuggling charges.
• The Olympic gold medalist spends her WNBA offseasons competing for Russian club UMMC Ekaterinburg.
• Griner and other women’s basketball stars command much higher salaries overseas than in the US.

Seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February for possession of vape cartridges filled with cannabis oil.

The 6-foot-9 Phoenix Mercury superstar now faces up to 10 years in a Russian prison for “large-scale transportation of drugs,” according to The New York Times. Griner has already been detained in the country for three weeks according to a fellow WNBA player and, given escalating tensions between the United States and Putin’s regime, could spend an extended period of time in Russian custody.

The horrifying situation has shaken the American sports landscape to its core, but ironically, the circumstances that led to Griner’s arrest could have been avoided entirely had the American market placed a higher value on her talent. The legendary hooper was only in Russia to supplement her income.

Like many other women’s basketball players, Griner spends her WNBA offseason competing overseas. Since 2014, she’s suited up for Russian powerhouse UMMC Ekaterinburg alongside a rotating group of fellow WNBA superstars, including Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot, and Emma Meesseman. 

All of these players command significantly higher salaries abroad than they can possibly earn in the states. This year, Griner is set to take home a league-maximum $227,900 annual salary from the Mercury, but only in recent years has her payday climbed into the six-figure range.

She reportedly earns $1 million per season with UMMC Ekaterinburg, per The Arizona Republic’s Jeff Metcalfe.

Even under ordinary circumstances, this two-season-per-year lifestyle is far from ideal. Without proper time to rest and rehabilitate their bodies, athletes like Griner often find themselves dealing with nagging injuries in addition to accelerated wear and tear that can cut their professional careers short.

But during moments of international crisis — like the early days of the pandemic or right now, as Russia wages war in Ukraine — WNBA players taking on second jobs overseas becomes all the more perilous. Thanks to the rapidly deteriorating relationship between her home country and her offseason abode, Griner may be a pawn in a fiery feud between two global superpowers.

According to The New York Times, Griner’s arrest could be linked to a Russian effort “to create leverage for a potential prisoner exchange with the American government or a reduction in sanctions related to the [Ukraine] invasion.” In the past, the Times’ Jonathan Abrams continues in that same article, “Russia has been detaining and sentencing American citizens on what United States officials often say are trumped-up charges.”

Whether her detainment is connected to the larger geopolitical feud or not, Griner almost certainly wouldn’t be in this situation if not for this pay disparity.

Had she made even a fraction of what her NBA counterparts do while playing domestically, Griner could have stayed in the United States for the offseason without fear that she wouldn’t have enough money for retirement. She could have rested her 6-foot-9 frame ahead of this summer’s WNBA season, as her reloaded Mercury squad sets its sights on a second straight WNBA Finals appearance, and she could have spent time back home with friends and loved ones.

Most importantly, had she been offered an opportunity to make $1 million in America instead of Russia, Griner could have avoided jail time under a hostile foreign power.