Brittney Griner, WNBA Star, Arrested in Russia
How a WNBA player’s incarceration highlight disparities in pay and endorsement compared to NBA.
Russia’s war against Ukraine has affected practically every corner of the world in some manner. Lives have been lost, maimed, families destroyed, careers ruined, and much devastation along with athletes and performers have been caught in the midst of disasters.
Even Russian performers and journalists have spoken out against the war and many have fled a dictatorship that could be responsible for taking their lives, families, and friends due to their stance on democracy.
In the sports world, Brittney Griner, an undeniable talented two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA champion, made the choice to go to Russia to cash in a big way as other athletes have done before her. Her timing was bad unbeknownst to her as she is currently being detained in Russia. She was taken into custody at the airport.
It is the norm for offseasons for athletes to migrate to other countries for financial gain. Brittney Griner has spent several WNBA offseasons starring for UMMC Ekaterinburg, an elite Russian basketball club team.
She was traveling back to Ekaterinburg from America connecting in Moscow when detained and found herself in the custody of Russian airport officials. Her whereabouts after this arrest were tracked via her cellphone as she texted back to others in the states.
A disparity in recognition for women of color lacking in comparison to white women and men who garnered little to no recognition and endorsement opportunities and therefore chose to seek notoriety in other countries.
Upon the advisement of Brittney’s adviser that since this country lacked appreciation and recognition of its own WNBA players on the court, these players accepted a Russian invitation that would afford notable financial gains and noteworthy opportunities while playing in Russia for the highest paying team in the world.
Brittney’s choice to travel to Russia is not the exception as more than half of the women in the WNBA supplement their incomes by playing professionally overseas during the offseason. The largest contracts are offered by Russian and Turkish clubs, seven times the maximum WNBA salary along with acquiring lucrative endorsements.
Griner’s plight highlights how men athletes get all types of sponsorship and endorsement outside of their salaries that afford them financial gain that negates traveling to other countries for financial gains.
Male athletes’ sports products can be readily found and purchased, unlike female athletes. Just recently the television news channels highlighted, how male and female athletes’ fitness gyms are equipped vastly differently.
The women’s gym pales to a bare room with a few pieces of equipment while the men’s gym is loaded with equipment from bottom to top and overflowing. From this example, it can easily ascertain other disparities faced by WNBA players.
While the NBA is 75-years-old and the WNBA is 25-years-old and the wide disparities bespeak how they remain low on the totem pole, Brittany’s reasons for going to Russia for financial gain need to come to the forefront.
In the past, many WNBA players have migrated to other countries for financial gain and endorsements. If female athletes were measured similarly to their male counterparts using the same criteria for success, they would be afforded equal pay, sponsorship, and endorsements.
This industry that thrives on success and celebrates competition, needs to change this disparity in real-time so WNBA athletes will not be enticed to put their lives in harm’s way.
In the meantime, Brittany’s adviser, her team of supporters, legal teams, family, and friends are at the forefront for her release and capture caught in the throes of a Russian war against Ukraine. Brittany’s legal team is seeking the White House’s commitment to free Brittney and bring her back to the states.
In conclusion, why a three-time All-American, ESPY award winner, seven-time All-Star, All-WNBA selection, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and WNBA champion universally respected and adored who set an NCAA record (among women and men) for blocking shots would have to travel abroad for financial gains.
Also, as a humanitarian, she kept shoes in her car’s trunk for distribution to the Phoenix homeless and volunteered with bullied children as she readily identified with having been bullied as a child herself. Given her track record, why would she have to lead the country during the offseason for work?
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