Searching for options
Some players competing overseas are looking for offseason altearnatives
UNCASVILLE — Over 5,000 miles and an 11-hour time difference separated Natisha Hiedeman from her family back home in Wisconsin.
Before the Russian Premier League was cut short last winter due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine, the 25-year-old Connecticut Sun guard was playing for Nadezhda — her third overseas team since becoming a professional player in 2019.
This was her third winter spent alone, detached from family and friends, only able to catch them late at night on the phone before she went to bed and while they were just starting their day a continent away.
“You’re over there by yourself, like that’s really what it is,” Hiedeman said.
Hiedeman’s story is not unique. For most WNBA players, the job as a professional player doesn’t stop when a champion is crowned at the end of the season.
Players start competing for international leagues oftentimes immediately following the conclusion of the WNBA season. They travel to countries all over the world to compete, grow their game and earn income.
For some, competing overseas is worth it for the lucrative contracts. But for others, the months spent away from family and friends is hard, especially when the overseas season overlaps with winter holidays and ends when the WNBA season begins.
Leaving hardly any time for breaks and rest in between.
The politics behind overseas seasons go even deeper.
Per the WNBA’s new prioritization rules, which go into effect next season, players can be punished for arriving late to training camp. The WNBA season starts in early May while training camp usually runs the two weeks before — conflicting with Euro League championship schedules.
There’s also the matter of safety as the world continues to heal from
the COVID-19 pandemic and international warfare.
In February, seven-time WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner was detained at a Russian airport in Moscow after Russian officials reportedly found cannabis oil in vape cartridges in her luggage. Her detainment came within the same month Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
Balancing careers both in the WNBA and overseas is nothing new to women’s basketball players. While competing overseas is optional, the rawness of Griner’s situation on top of the league’s new rules and the inaugural season of the new United States-based offseason Athletes Unlimited, the worth and willingness by athletes to compete during the offseason in foreign countries becomes more debatable.
Players such as Hiedeman are questioning the value.
“As much mentally as physically, these players are asked to play yearround and they go one season to another,” Sun head coach Curt Miller said. “These pros, the sacrifices go to an extremely high level. They play yearround, they’re away from family and friends, out of the country, they never get their bodies a break.
“The mental toll that it takes on them, add these last couple years, the added mental stress of COVID and bubbled seasons and all your testing and all the medical requirements around our seasons. It’s remarkable these guys do what they do.”
While young girls dream of playing collegiately and in the WNBA, it’s not until their college-aged years that the reality of playing overseas becomes an option. For those who go undrafted or don’t make rosters following training camp, going overseas can be the only option to play professionally.
The WNBA’s offseason is longer than its four-to-five-month summer schedule. Finding a league to continue to play in, sharpen your skills, and get paid to do what you love can often be the most productive way to spend the offseason.
PROS AND CONS
The biggest reason WNBA players play overseas is for the steep increase in salary compared to playing in the WNBA. The league’s supermax salary — reserved for the best of the best — is $228,094 for the 2022 season. Overseas contracts can more than double that number. ESPN reported former UConn great and current Seattle Storm forward Breanna Stewart earns about $1.5 million playing overseas during a single season.
Beyond the the income is the opportunity to face the world’s best players on big stages. Rosters feature a collage of players from all over the world, some from the WNBA and others from international senior teams. Each vying to battle it out in the postseason in the FIBA circuit or in each country’s league championships.
“I knew that I had an option, but I wanted to grow my game. I was excited about overseas,” 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones said about her first year overseas. “I played in Korea. It was a great experience. We won a championship. I came back in really great shape and after that it was my first year being an All-Star, my second year in the league. … It’s an aspect that has helped my game grow and has allowed me to come back every year better.”
There’s also the traveling aspect as players experience new places, new cultures, food, and meeting new people.
“I really just like the experience of it,” said Jasmine Thomas, 11-year vet in the WNBA and key starter for the Sun. “Being in different cultures, getting to know the language, the food and just seeing something different every year. Without basketball, I don’t know if I would have those opportunities.”
The hardest parts of competing overseas? The time away from family while being alone in a foreign country between practice and games. Juggling brutal time differences just to be able to check in with those back in the States. For some players, being so far from loved ones creates an overwhelming sense of loneliness.
“You might not talk to your people for however long,” Hiedeman said. “I definitely do not like going overseas. I do not ever want to have to go overseas ever again, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.”
Even though players are surrounded by their international team staff and teammates, most clubs don’t provide translators. Some teams may have multiple WNBA players or players who know English on their roster, others may only have one. For players without means to translators, they’re left to fight the language barrier both on and off the court.
Taja Cole, former Virginia Tech guard, said she hired a tutor out of her own pocket to help her learn Spanish basketball terminology during her time playing in Spain. Each day before practice, the tutor would teach the point guard how to call out plays in Spanish.
The lack of built-in rest between the international season and WNBA can also be risky for athletes’ health. Without proper rest, injuries are more likely to occur especially when players are competing year-round.
“Every single one of our players that had been overseas I feel like have had swollen knees this year,” Miller said. “We’re getting MRIs sent back to our team docs from foreign countries and could we read them, could we not. I’m telling you, nearly everyone overseas has something going on and our medical doctors are looking at back here from their seasons overseas and it’s just wear-and-tear.
“It’s not acute injury. It’s not necessarily a major injury, knock on wood, it’s just so much wear-and-tear on them day after day after day that they play 12 months out of the year.”
Safety is also the utmost concern. Griner’s situation is delicate. There have been few updates about her legal status in Russia and whether she will face serious criminal charges. With Russia still at war with Ukraine, the situation has become even more fragile as some avoid bringing unwanted attention to the issue in risk of making her a pawn. It is unknown when Griner will return to the United States and when or if she’ll rejoin the Phoenix Mercury this season.
“I know BG has family, she has people that care about her, and the fact that she’s stuck over there, it’s not anything to play with,” Cole said. “I think people don’t realize how serious it is, unless it’s you, but it’s something I think about it every day and I just hope that we can keep our players in the States.”
NEW RULES
The WNBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement brought positive change to the league. It bumped up the salary cap and brought better benefits for players who require childcare and maternity leave.
Yet, it also introduced strict rules for league prioritization.
Starting with the 2023 season, any player with three years or more in the league will be fined if they miss the start of training camp and suspended for the season if they miss the start of the regular season (usually two weeks following the start of camp).
Per the CBA, starting in 2024 a player can be suspended for the whole season if they’re late to training camp.
“I don’t really agree with it,” Jones said about the new rules. “I feel like the league understands the situation that we’re in as WNBA players and I think the league is moving in the right direction in terms of how they pay the players, but ultimately a lot of us go over there to really just make more money and help our families out more, so I feel like it’s kinda like a sore spot in the CBA.”
The Russian league, which Jones plays for on UMMC Ekaterinburg, ended its season early following the invasion of Ukraine. Jones, along with Hiedeman, returned to the U.S. early. They took two months off from basketball, rested, and spent time with family and friends.
Jones was able to participate in the Sun’s training camp for the first time in years. Miller said he felt Jones had a better mental state to start the season, more rested and loose, because of her unexpected break.
“To be fortunate to have a break that also was not expected to be able to get around family and friends and take a deep breath; JJ that’s in the Bahamas and Atlanta, Natisha that’s in Wisconsin,” he said. “Just to be around family and friends, what that does mentally, for your mental health, it is invaluable. It’s priceless for them.”
ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION
Athletes Unlimited debuted its basketball season earlier this winter. It was the first time the league held a basketball league after previously launching softball, lacrosse and volleyball seasons.
While the league is uniquely structured — teams are re-drafted every week during the five-week season with players chosen as captains to direct plays and lineups to help each player and team earn points — it provides a domestic option for those seeking competition during the WNBA offseason.
The pay, however, isn’t yet comparable to a WNBA or overseas season. Per The Washington Post, AU basketball players averaged over $20,000 with the opportunity to collect bonuses based off performance in games. The player with the most points at the end of the season could, reportedly, up their earnings to $40,000.
The Sun had three players participate in the league’s inaugural season: Cole, DiJonai Carrington and Courtney Williams. Each said they loved the experience and are interested in doing it again next year.
“It was fire. It was dope, man, I loved everything about it,” said Williams, a six-year WNBA veteran. “The way they treated players, the facility, our living circumstances, everything was dope, man. Sign me up every year. I’m there.”
The chance to remain in the States was breath of fresh air for those who previously traveled overseas. While AU is still just a fraction of the schedule and salary of playing internationally, both Williams and Cole agreed the league will grow and convince more players to not compete overseas.
“They want to keep our American women and Australians that play over here for college, they want to keep us over here with our families,” Cole said. “You have some league (WNBA) players that have babies, so going overseas is kinda hard for them to stick with their families. So, I think definitely, this is the future. …
“A lot of people are realizing that we can stay over here and make our money and I think investors are starting to get on board with that and make things happen.”
There’s no clear solution to the overseas balance. There’s not a one-size-fitsall option.
But having options is the start. Whether that’s the growth of AU or more domestic leagues popping up and the WNBA creating new outlines in the CBA for salary room and prioritization.
“I’mma be honest, like yeah I want to stay in shape, but I can stay in shape (during the offseason),” Hiedeman said. “I’ve got a lot of people who I could work out with and places where I could play basketball. With Athletes Unlimited being a thing, that overseas might be gone and out the water now. …
“I love the WNBA. Like I’m proud to be in the WNBA, like I love this more than going overseas, but people got to, people got families they got to support.”
At the end of the day, players just want to extend their dream of getting paid to do something they love for as long as they can.
“I’m older so for me overseas is definitely something that I want to do if I can do it 100 percent and that might look different for me in different ways,” Thomas said. “Maybe not a whole season, maybe going to a team or country where I know I’m not playing 40 minutes all the time or signing contracts to make me comfortable and make me happy. I definitely enjoy it and as long as I’m healthy I want to play as much basketball as I can.”