Brittney Griner, the WNBA megastar and two-time Olympic gold medalist, has been detained in Russia since February. That’s obviously crazy, but not for the reasons you might think.
Griner has reached the pinnacle of her sport and has broken barrier after barrier along the way. Yet, for reasons totally out of her control, she does not command the same media attention as NBA superstars Stephen Curry or LeBron James. Much of the media coverage surrounding her detention in Russia for over two months has paradoxically been about just that: the lack of outrage or coverage when Curry or James would likely carry a significant public outcry.
And all of that is true. The Russian government is justifying Griner’s detention with charges of possession of hash oil — essentially marijuana extract — which was found in her luggage. Such a petty offense should be met with public attention and demand that the U.S. State Department exhaust every effort to release Griner, considering her status as a high-level American athlete. But the lack of media coverage and general discontent is, in fact, intentional and not even the worst part of this ordeal.
Griner is currently being held legally in Russia. Should Griner’s story become a political issue in the U.S., Russia could use her as leverage in any U.S.-Russia negotiations that may come as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war, making her a glorified hostage. Treating her story with less outrage is intentional on the part of U.S. diplomats and her family to ensure her safe treatment and possible release.
A question that has taken secondary importance to Griner’s media coverage is why she was entering Russia in the first place. After all, this entire debacle could have been avoided had she not decided to go. Was she visiting family? Was she taking a vacation in the offseason? If you guessed that she was headed to Russia to play in the Russian domestic basketball league because it is more financially lucrative than the WNBA, you’d be right.
In a wonderfully comprehensive piece for Andscape, William Rhoden shows how in 2015, Griner made 15 times her WNBA salary by playing in Russia. Seventy WNBA players, close to half of the 144-person league, reportedly play in overseas leagues in the offseason to supplement their underwhelming WNBA salaries despite being professional athletes in the biggest sports market in the world. The fact that Griner has to travel to Russia in order to truly capitalize on her abilities and stardom is the true insanity of this situation.
WNBA revenue is almost incomparable to the NBA, where LeBron James makes 181 times what Griner does on salary alone. It’s certainly not as simple as saying “same pay for same play,” but this level of income disparity doesn’t pass the common sense test. WNBA players take a comparatively tiny portion of league revenues, a meager 29% compared to the 51% that NBA players take.
No one at Griner’s level should have to work two jobs to earn even a fraction of their male counterparts. Changing the culture takes massive, generational effort but changing tiny economic disparities shouldn’t.
