Diana Taurasi Detailing Poor WNBA Pay Compared to Russia Does Not Get Fans’ Support: “Produce a Product People Want to Watch.”

For 10 seasons, Diana Taurasi played in Russia after the WNBA season was over, just to earn more money from basketball.

Diana Taurasi Detailing Poor WNBA Pay Compared to Russia Does Not Get Fans’ Support: “Produce a Product People Want to Watch.”

Diana Taurasi talks about the horrible pay in the WNBA (Image via FirstSportz)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

For most of the 20 seasons Diana Taurasi spent in the WNBA, she was one of the best players on the court. Her exploits with the Phoenix Mercury include 3 championships and 2 Finals MVPs.

She was the last guard to win league MVP. Quite the accomplishment considering forwards and centers have won most of them. Along with that, she racked up 14 All-WNBA selections, 11 All-Star selections, and was the scoring champion 5 times, with four of them coming in succession.

In addition to her 3 NCAA championships, 6 Olympic gold medals, and various other accolades, the now 43-year-old has had a career that many would end up calling her the greatest of all time.

Despite all those efforts, the UConn alum made at most $234,936 in annual salary in the WNBA. Her net worth is $3.5 million, which means most of it came from endorsements and her salary playing abroad.

I’m the best player in the world, and I have to go to a communist country to get paid like a capitalist. We weren’t making that much money. So generational wealth was coming from going to Russia every year.

Diana Taurasi said

These were the 1st few lines of the trailer to her documentary, soon to come out on Prime Video. This was a precursor to Diana Taurasi’s description of the horrible pay in the WNBA.

Now we have to come back home and get paid nothing, to play in a harder league, in worse conditions, against the best competition in the world. The (expletive) janitor at the arena made more than me.

Diana Taurasi said

Another person in the trailer confirmed that WNBA players were forced to play abroad to earn a decent living. That meant they would miss out on their lives for most of the year, staying in other countries.

Fans do not sympathize with Diana Taurasi

There is no dispute that the salary WNBA players take home is laughable for any top professional league. The league average is around $110,000, an amount that is way lower than what others get paid. Even pickleball, a sport that has only recently started to gain fame, pays a lot more than the WNBA.

Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, and other WNBA legends playing in Russia
Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, and other WNBA legends playing in Russia (Image via Open Source/X)

Basketball fans know this and agree that the women should be paid more. The next CBA might help them get closer to their dreams. But at the same time, they were not sympathetic to Diana Taurasi as they believe the league was not good enough.

Only after Caitlin Clark came in has the game become exciting enough to watch. Even Shaquille O’Neal alluded to it, calling it a ‘high school game’. Fans believe Taurasi is complaining without realizing they did not do their part in making the WNBA more exciting. Check out examples of those reactions below.

The 43-year-old is trying to raise awareness around the horrible pay in the WNBA. Hopefully, her words will resonate with the commissioner and the teams, and they will finally give the players what they deserve.

Diana Taurasi wants Caitlin Clark to get next signature shoe

Diana Taurasi is not afraid to speak her mind. Even though she gets brickbats on occasion, it has never stopped her from saying what she wants. At the same time, she looks out for fellow women’s basketball players and said this when asked who should get the next signature shoe.

Oh Caitlin, of course. I mean, I know she has some PEs, little colorways, but you can do that on Nike ID. I mean, the next Caitlin shoe should be the next one, and my kids will be wearing it.

Diana Taurasi

The 3-time champion has witnessed some players in the league get their signature shoes, but believes it is time for Caitlin Clark to get her own. She knows that the recent PE colorways have been a hit, but prefers if the signature shoe drops soon.

Also Read: