Shocking and heartbreaking news arrived from Europe this weekend: Seattle Storm stalwart Breanna Stewart had ruptured the right Achilles tendon playing for his Russian team, Dynamo Kursk, in the EuroLeague title game.
The consequences of this injury are vast. And the questions this raises are thorny.
For starters, this is obviously devastating news for the Storm, who had their sights set on a strong defense of their WNBA title. With a healthy “Stewie,” who at age 24 has become the dominant player in the league, it was a realistic goal. But the task now becomes much more difficult, if not impossible.
For the WNBA, this is also a big blow. Stewart is one of the faces of the league, his reigning regular season MVP and the championship finals. Now, she will miss the season, depriving fans of one of the most talented and charismatic players in the league. Stewart underwent what is called successful surgery to repair the rupture in Los Angeles on Thursday, performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache and Dr. Kenneth S. Jung.
The WNBA will already be without superstar Maya Moore, the 2014 MVP who is choosing to sit out the season to focus on her family and ministry. And Dallas center Liz Cambage, the WNBA’s leading scorer in 2018 who scored a record 53 points in a single game, has requested a trade with Los Angeles and may not play if it isn’t executed.
Cambage previously rejected the possibility of bypassing the WNBA season in 2019 because the money was far less than what she and other players earned overseas.
“I’ve said it many times: (The WNBA) doesn’t pay my bills…playing here doesn’t pay my bills.” Cambage told ESPN’s Sean Hurd. “We make more money overseas. I’m ready to take next summer off and focus on getting a European contract where his 10 seasons here are worth it.
Which brings us to the thorny question: What can the league do about the fact that its best players are forced to play almost year-round to supplement their WNBA income?
It would be inconceivable that NBA players of the caliber of LeBron James and Steph Curry would rush after the playoffs to join a European team for a second season that would take them all the way to training camp. But it’s a common occurrence for Brittney Griner (with whom Stewart found himself involved in the fateful play that resulted in his ruptured Achilles), A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and, over the years, virtually every superstar you can think of, including up until 2014 Sue Bird.
This is sure to be a major bargaining point in upcoming labor negotiations, which will intensify over the coming season now that the National Women’s Basketball Players Association has opted to withdraw from the current collective agreement after the 2019 season.
Players are speaking more and more openly about the salary gap between the NBA and WNBA. However, they do not ask for corresponding salaries; what they want is the disparity in the percentage of revenue paid to players — about 50 percent in the NBA versus about 20.4 percent in the WNBA.
That puts the average WNBA salary at less than $80,000, with a base cap of $117,500 (plus bonuses that can bring it to around $150,000). Stewart earned a base salary of $56,793 last season (expected to increase to $64,538 in 2019), according to espnW’s Mechelle Voepel, plus bonuses totaling $38,525 for being league MVP, winning the WNBA title, being part of the All-WNBA first team and being selected All-Star.
WNBA players could earn significantly more money playing overseas, including France, Spain, Turkey, China, Korea, Israel, Italy, Australia, Czech Republic, Hungary , Belgium and Russia – and more than 70% of the league’s players choose to do so. SO.
Salaries for elite players can approach or even exceed half a million dollars in these countries. In a bad omen for the league, Diana Taurasi opted out of the 2015 WNBA season because her Russian team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, paid her $1.5 million, about 10 times her salary with the Phoenix Mercury. They essentially bought out Taurasi’s WNBA season to get her to rest and focus on the European campaign, something Cambage also alluded to.
Playing year-round, while lucrative, takes its physical (as well as mental) toll. Thanks to his commitment to Team USA, Stewart has been hitting the field virtually non-stop for years. She injured her knee playing in China last winter, and now that Achilles injury has sidelined her in her prime.
It should be noted that Stewart played 42 games in the WNBA last season (including the playoffs), plus 18 with her Russian team and a handful for American basketball, which still doesn’t equal an NBA regular season. . But the key point is that players like Stewart never get a lasting opportunity to rest their bodies, and it stands to reason that this makes them more susceptible to injury.
What makes this particularly vexing is that the WNBA is awash in red ink. It lost $12 million in 2018, and on average $10 million a year over its lifetime, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last December.
But it also offers a product that might be better than it’s ever been, with a host of exciting and marketable stars. Playoff ratings increased by 30 percent. The WNBA remains the best league in the world for women’s basketball; but not the best paid.
It won’t be easy to change this, due to the financial challenges the league faces. And let’s face it, big money overseas will always be a lure, because of owners who are willing to pay for it whether they make a profit or not.
But it’s up to the WNBA to find a way to keep its best players, like Breanna Stewart, from putting their bodies on the line virtually 12 months of the year. We have just learned, painfully, of the potential cost.
