Canadians applaud WNBA’s landmark deal boosting pay
Kia Nurse’s side hustle is halfway around the world.
For the second consecutive Women’s National Basketball Association off-season, the 23year-old from Hamilton is playing in Australia for the Canberra Capitals, who she led to a WNBL championship last spring.
Doing overseas double-duty has been the norm for WNBA players. The fact they’re paid virtual peanuts — particularly in comparison to their male NBA counterparts — has made a second paycheque a necessity.
But the women’s pro basketball landscape experienced a seismic shift Tuesday with news of the WNBA’s landmark collective bargaining agreement.
And Nurse and her WNBA colleagues applauded the tentative eight-year agreement that will see average salaries rise to six figures for the first time, plus improved travel conditions and full paid salary for players on maternity leave.
“I think there’s a lot of exciting parts about this CBA,” Nurse said from Australia. “As the years continue to go and as I continue to grow and develop in this league and hopefully have a long standing there, as the time goes on then maybe that’s when those opportunities to not going overseas will come into play. And hopefully the younger generations that are coming up, they’ll have that opportunity early to decide whether they want to do that as well or not.”
Nurse and Indiana Fever forward Natalie Achonwa, a native of Guelph, playing in Bourges, France, are among the approximate two thirds of WNBA players who spend their off-seasons playing abroad. Nurse has been nothing but positive about her experience Down Under. Calling Australia her “home away from home,” she’s donated part of her salary to help those affected by the wildfires raging across the country.
But the issue of top women being forced to supplement their income by playing yearround became a hot-button topic when WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart ruptured her Achilles tendon last April in the Euroleague final. The Seattle Storm forward missed all of the 2019 WNBA season. She hopes to make her return in an exhibition game with the U.S. national team later this month.
Diana Taurasi sat out a WNBA season a few years ago because her Russian team, which was paying her more than $1 million (US), wanted her to rest.
The tentative eight-year labour deal would allow top players to earn more than $500,000 (US) while the average salary — $130,000 — surpasses six figures for the first time. The deal also guarantees full salaries while on maternity leave plus child care benefits and enhanced travel standards.
“It’s a milestone agreement that is taking us steps in the right direction, and I’m hoping it won’t be great just for women’s basketball, but for women’s sports in general,” said Canadian Kayla Alexander, a centre for the Chicago Sky.
The deal still won’t pay women nearly what men make — the average NBA salary is $7.7 million — but it tells women that “I can have a decent lifestyle and I can make a decent living, I can have a decent work environment and work setting that I can be successful and compete at a high level,” said Alexander, a native of Milton.
While neither are mothers, both Nurse and Alexander said the maternity improvements were big wins.
“There are so many mothers in our league who are absolute superheroes both on and off the court with taking care of their child and also putting out the best performance that they can night in and night out,” said Nurse, who was an all-star in her second season with the New York Liberty.
Alexander also applauded the WNBA’s new “Changemakers” program that will see companies contribute financially in the league’s marketing, branding, and player and fan development. AT&T, Nike and Deloitte are the inaugural three business partners.