Friday, September 24, 2010

Money Talks...



Playing professional basketball all-year around really takes a toll on the reigning WNBA league and former finals MVP, Diana Taurasi who feels she’s on a never-ending treadmill. Unlike NBA players who play basketball for nine months, a majority of the WNBA players play entire second seasons in places such as Europe, Russia, and Australia on top of their WNBA season.
This new trend among WNBA stars is due to their salary they receive playing basketball in America compared to overseas. The WNBA’s maximum salary for any player hovers around $100,000 when a player can make five times this playing in Moscow. If this is the case, why wouldn’t top-name players want to take a break off from the WNBA who have lost tons of investments and support since 1997 when the league began?
The basketball in WNBA may be more competitive than overseas, but assessing the long-term financial situation also comes into play. It comes down to being a personal decision for most players. Some players love getting a chance to see different parts of the world while getting compensated for it, while others rather rest and heal their body and just play in the states. Some players that play all-year around get breaks in the schedule if their teams are eliminated from the playoffs early, but players such as Taurasi rarely sleep because her team is always competing.
This ripple effect could leave the WNBA with the short end of the stick as many players are reevaluating playing in a league whose salary is dwarfed by overseas. Only time will tell how many people join this movement. I can only imagine how many will follow Taursai who is arguably the best college player ever and one of the best basketball players in the world.

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