For the elite athletes in the WNBA, paying out the offseason taking part in in Russia can suggest earning far more funds than they can make again home — in some cases even two or a few occasions as significantly.
But those who have completed that also explain the loneliness of being away from family members and friends, of having difficulties with an unfamiliar language and society, and of dwelling in a location with only a couple several hours of sunlight in the winter and temperatures very well beneath freezing.
Brittney Griner is a person of people gamers who went to Russia in recent a long time to make further revenue. For the two-time Olympian, nonetheless, it has turned into a extended nightmare.
Because arriving at a Moscow airport in mid-February, she has been detained by law enforcement immediately after they claimed locating vape cartridges allegedly made up of cannabis oil in her luggage. However in jail, she is awaiting demo future thirty day period on rates that could bring up to 10 several years in prison.
Her arrest arrived at a time of heightened political tensions in excess of Ukraine. Considering the fact that then, Russia has invaded Ukraine and stays at war.
A half-dozen American gamers contacted by The Linked Push shared their encounters on taking part in in Russia. Even though none found by themselves in the same situation as Griner, they explained difficulties such as isolation and boredom, apart from basketball.
“Playing there was not easy mainly because the life style and the way of dwelling is a large amount distinct than what you encounter in other areas in Europe and America,” mentioned DeLisha Milton-Jones, 1 of the 1st marquee American gamers to play in Russia in the early 2000s.
“The extremes of the weather — it is pitch black dim at 5 p.m. I had to use my significant jacket warming up sometimes considering the fact that it was minus-40 degrees outdoors,” stated Milton-Jones, who performed for UMKC Ekaterinburg — the very same workforce as Griner.
The former All-American at Florida, WNBA All-Star and two-time WNBA winner with the Los Angeles Sparks claimed the conclusion to participate in in Russia was simply a “business a single.”
In the early 2000s, top rated WNBA gamers could receive about $125,000 a calendar year as element of a marketing deal with the league. Right now, the salary for elite gamers is about $500,000. By taking part in in Russia, these gamers can get paid one more $1 million to $1.5 million.
Players say the Russian teams attempt to make them as at ease as possible, together with from time to time supplying motorists and translators. The clubs also give players excess days off throughout breaks, recognizing they have for a longer time journey again to the U.S., if they go property.
Apartments provided by the groups are equivalent with what the players are accustomed to in the WNBA, like Western-type kitchens and laundry facilities, and they also have access to streaming products and services and video clip calls.
Milton-Jones, 47, performed in other European leagues but explained Russia paid out the most at the time. And none topped UMKC Ekaterinburg, which proceeds to be an appealing location for gamers.
Milton-Jones aided the club earn its to start with EuroLeague title. The team’s owner, Shabtai Kalmanovich, changed the common of shell out and residing for WNBA players in Russia right before he was shot and killed in Moscow in 2009.
“We chartered. Did anything five-star,” Milton-Jones stated at United states Basketball training camp previously this thirty day period. “He would just spoil us. He’d send us to France for a weekend and give us thousands of dollars to go searching on a personal airplane. No subject the club, you didn’t know the place the funds was coming from and you did not care. You had been there to do a career.”
Sue Fowl and Diana Taurasi also used many several years taking part in in Russia for Kalmanovich and spoke of deluxe residing circumstances and the lavish visits he would deliver.
“Every thing basically was very first-class,” Bird as soon as claimed. “We’re keeping at the ideal hotels. We go to Paris. We’re in, like, the bomb lodge in Paris.”
That remedy at Ekaterinburg continues.
“My encounter in Russia has been remarkable, to be truthful,” reported Breanna Stewart, who has performed for Ekaterinburg given that 2020. “They make certain they take treatment of the gamers by chartering everywhere you go.”
But Milton-Jones also remembers how unique existence was 20 yrs ago, when cellphones and the online were being relatively new.
“Back in the working day, you had to go to the cigarette store and buy the scratch-off cards and you’d sort that number in the phone and it states you have 25 minutes to converse,” she stated. “We didn’t have the common apps these days on your cellphone. It was a struggle”
Connecticut Sunlight guard Natisha Hiedeman, who spent this previous year in Russia before returning to residence in March, claimed her day by day program consisted of heading to the fitness center and returning property. The only other area she went was the grocery keep.
“It’s just tough going out when you can’t connect. Anything is 10 times harder,” she mentioned. “I stayed in the dwelling. I was lucky that I experienced my puppy out there, (to) do stuff with him.”
Hiedeman reported getting in Russia felt additional isolating than participating in in Israel.
“In Israel, anyone was 20 minutes aside and there had been a full bunch of Us residents, so it was less difficult,” she reported. “Russia is a massive nation, and to be around any other crew you experienced to get on a plane and journey.”
Hiedeman stayed connected with her household via technology despite the time variations.
“I don’t know how the old cats utilised to do it without FaceTime,” she reported, laughing.
Brianna Turner, a teammate of Griner with the Phoenix Mercury, also played in Russia in 2020-21. She competed for Nika Syktyvkar, a workforce based mostly in Russia’s remote European north.
Turner said Syktyvkar did not have a buying mall or a lot of places to go, but it had a McDonald’s — despite the fact that she didn’t go there typically.
She usually stayed at house and streamed films and shows on her pc. When her staff went on the street, she’d try out to commit some time in the mall in individuals locations.
“There was not considerably to do outside the house of basketball,” she reported.
“My metropolis was quite cold. When I initial obtained there, the sun set at 3,” reported Turner, who is from South Bend, Indiana. “The weather was a massive adjustment. It was even colder. Wake up, and it would be damaging 20 multiple times in a row. It was chilly each one day.”