“Nobody will go there until she gets home,” Brittney Griner’s teammate Breanna Stewart stated. Brittney Griner’s high-profile legal problems in Russia, combined with the country’s invasion of Ukraine, have prompted the best WNBA players to seek new opportunities this off-season. For decades, Russia has been the favorite vacation destination for WNBA players due to the huge earnings that sometimes surpass $1 million and the resources and services provided by clubs.
All of that has come to an end. “Honestly, my time in Russia has been great,” said Breanna Stewart, a Griner teammate on the Russian squad that paid the couple millions of dollars. “I think that now, you know, people want to move overseas, and even if the money isn’t that much different, they want to be in a better area.”
Griner was arrested in February, held, and then convicted on drug possession charges in the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison last month. Stewart and other WNBA All-Stars, such as Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot, who have made millions of dollars playing in Russia, are now looking for work abroad this winter. All three played for the same Russian team as Griner, Ekaterinburg. With former greats DeLisha Milton Jones and Diana Taurasi playing there, that club has won five EuroLeague titles in the last eight seasons and has been dominant for nearly two decades.
Last winter, nearly a dozen WNBA players competed in Russia, and none of them are returning this year. Stewart will play for Fenerbahçe in Turkey following the World Cup. Top players can earn a few hundred thousand dollars in Turkey, which is significantly less than their Russian earnings. Stewart may also spend more time with her wife’s relatives in Spain by playing in Turkey. “You want to live a better lifestyle, have a better off-court experience, and just respect other places,” Stewart said. Vandersloot, like Stewart, is not returning to Russia, preferring to play in Hungary, where she got citizenship in 2016.
Even though she has many pleasant memories of the Russian people, the 33-year-old guard said a lot would have to change before she’d consider returning to Russia to play. “The issue is, we were treated so well by our club and formed such great bonds with those folks that I would never lock the door on it,” she explained. “The overall situation with BG makes it really difficult to believe that anyone should return there right now.”
Jones will join Stewart in Turkey, where he will play for Mersin. The 6-foot-6 Jones said she would consider returning to Russia if things changed politically and Griner returned to the United States. The Griner predicament is also weighing heavily on the minds of WNBA rookies. Rhyne Howard, the 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year, is playing her first abroad game this winter in Italy. She stated that she was cautious while picking where she wanted to play. “Everyone is going to be a little wary because of this circumstance,” she remarked.
Not only are American players refusing to travel to Russia. Emma Meesseman, a Chicago Sky forward who plays for the Belgian national team, had previously played in Russia alongside Stewart, Jones, and Vandersloot. She’ll also be in Turkey throughout the offseason. The WNBA has also attempted to make staying at home over the offseason a more appealing option for players. At the WNBA Finals, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert stated that elite players may earn up to $700,000 this year in base salary, marketing agreements, and award incentives. While only a few players might earn that much, about a dozen have elected to sign league marketing contracts this offseason.