After 10 months in a Russian jail, Brittney Griner is making her extremely anticipated return to the basketball court docket. As a part of her newly signed one-year contract with the Phoenix Mercury, Griner’s group for the previous decade, the WNBA famous person is going through a major wage lower. 

Enterprise Insider reported that Griner’s $165,100 contract is a 32% drop from final season’s supply, however that she accepted it to assist re-sign WNBA’s all-time main scorer Diana Taurasi.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time WNBA All-Star, had been making near the utmost potential wage for the three seasons previous to her arrest in Russia final February for possession of lower than a gram of hashish oil. She was additionally eligible for a $234,936 supermax this season.

WNBA Gamers Settle for Much less Pay To Create Higher Groups

Alas, Griner shouldn’t be alone in taking a pay lower to assist create what is named a “tremendous group.”

Simply Girls’s Sports activities reported that different professional basketball gamers, together with prized free agent Breanna Stewart who took “considerably much less” cash from the New York Liberty in an effort to create an excellent group. Brionna Jones and Candace Parker are additionally accepting much less pay to spice up their groups’ expertise.

Regardless of the pay cuts, the WNBA’s league wage cap this 12 months is barely $17 million, whereas the NBA’s league cap sits at $134 million. The WNBA has been striving for pay parity with their male counterparts, and whereas there was some progress, there may be nonetheless an extended strategy to go.

This Is Why WNBA Gamers Went To Russia Throughout The Off Season: Enormous Salaries

Griner was reportedly making $1 million yearly as a participant for Russia’s UMMC Yekaterinburg. Taurasi additionally performed for a similar Russian group for a similar wage however stopped in 2017.

Griner was sixth on the wage record of gamers; the lowest-paid WNBA participant’s wage is $60,471.

Evaluate these earnings to NBA salaries comparable to Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors, who tops the wage record at over $45 million a 12 months. The NBA participant whose wage comes closest to Griner and Taurasi’s is the Boston Celtics’ Malik Fitts, who ranks No. 488 on the NBA record. This was Fitts’ first season within the NBA whereas Griner has been within the WNBA for ten years and Taurasi is happening 19 years. 

So, sure, there may be nonetheless a strategy to go to realize even the slightest pay parity.

The Phoenix Mercury’s season will kick off on Could 19 with a sport towards the Los Angeles Sparks. Followers will undoubtedly be celebrating Griner’s return to the court docket and the creation of a strong “tremendous group” will hopefully sign a shiny future for girls’s basketball.

Photograph: Twitter @PhoenixMercury