Ready for travels, travails
SEATTLE – The idea sounds so glamorous, like something harmonized by a hip-hop artist on the radio. Simply pack a duffel bag, board a transatlantic flight, and play basketball in an exotic land for large sums of tax-free money.
The reality? Sue Bird would rather pass.
At least that’s what she thought two years ago. Leaving family and friends behind for four to eight months, eating suspect food, and taking direction from a coach who might as well have been the teacher in a Charlie Brown cartoon was a little much to grasp.
Yet last winter, there she was, standing in a New York airport booked for Moscow.
For her career, she needed to go. Bird, 24, and Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi, 22, were the only players on the U.S. Olympic team who hadn’t played overseas, and their inexperience showed during the team’s gold-medal run in Athens, Greece.
Still, the unknown was unsettling.
“It’s really corny, but I really believe in a positive outlook,” Bird said of her four-month stay in Russia. “Anytime anybody would ask me, I’d be like, ‘Oh, yeah it’s awesome,’ and it really made me live it that way. I ended up having a great time.”
Russia was a hotbed for WNBA players this season. Former Storm center Kamila Vodichkova and Seattle newcomer Natalia Vodopyanova also played for Bird’s Dynamo Moscow team, and every opponent brought in a familiar face, from Indiana forward Natalie Williams to San Antonio forward LaToya Thomas.
In fact, Europe and Asia were full of players tied to the WNBA, each experiencing a different culture while furthering basketball’s global game.
For some, there was a hint of the high life. Former Storm forward Adia Barnes, who was cut last week by the team, played in Turkey, where her apartment provided a picturesque view of the twinkling Mediterranean Sea.
After Bird defrosted from the stifling cold, she was struck by the architecture in Red Square, the “people’s transit” or subway, reckless Russian drivers, people casually hitchhiking, and how tasty the sushi was on airplanes.
But while Bird and Barnes soaked up the overseas experience, Storm guards Betty Lennox and Shaquala Williams were itching to go home. Williams played in Poland and grew weary of the natives whipping around their heads to stare at her because she’s black – a rarity in the country.
“I learned not to make eye contact,” she said. “It was uncomfortable, but I guess they were just curious.”
Lennox landed in Italy, kept afloat only by the adoring fans. Playing in one of the poorer cities, her first apartment smelled of sewer drainage when it rained, which was often. At 5-foot-8, she couldn’t fit in the shower or bed, and her refrigerator was the size of a picnic cooler.
Then there were the games. Sleepy from her flight, Lennox was asked to practice after she landed. She wiggled out of that but still had to play a game, and remembers only that she scored 15 points. Most nights, Lennox was practically mauled by Italian defenders every time she shot the ball.
“It was unnecessary roughness,” she said. “You could tackle a player and no foul was called. So, I picked up all those bad habits, too.”
But while players have been forcing themselves to adapt to the overseas game for decades, American women’s basketball is still in its infancy.
The veteran minimum for a WNBA player with at least four years’ experience is $45,427, and the league maximum is $89,000, with teams restricted to a $673,000 salary cap. Charlotte center Janel McCarville was the No. 1 overall pick in the April draft, good for a $41,600 salary. The Sonics’ Robert Swift, drafted 12th overall in 2004, signed for $1.4 million.
Playing overseas is practically a necessity for women professionals. For eight months in the off-season, players can double what they make in the WNBA.
As is the case everywhere, post players make the most, with six-figure salaries. In 2004, Storm All-Star Lauren Jackson signed with a Russian team just for the playoffs and made about $150,000. In Korea, top American players can make five-figure salaries per month for a four-month season. Even Bird said what her Russian team offered was more than what she made through her new Seattle marketing deal with Doug’s Lynwood Mazda Hummer/Hyundai and possible appearances.
“My preference is to stay home,” Bird said. “Did I have a great time? Absolutely. Am I glad I did that? Absolutely. Do I want to do that every year? No. But the money couldn’t be matched. You couldn’t even come close. You’ve got to take advantage of it.”
And for players who don’t have marquee names or shoe contracts, but still have families to provide for, the travel is absolutely a necessity – and a growing trend across the league last off-season.
Across WNBA training camps in April, absent stars led to collective scowls. Coaches paced their sideline looking onto the court with disgust. There were only four weeks to prepare for a strenuous, 34-game schedule, and many key players weren’t in camp.
In this post-Olympic year, the WNBA’s schedule conflicted with FIBA’s. The international organization pushed its start date back after the Athens Games, which meant countries such as France, Italy and Spain will host their championship series after the WNBA season begins.
“We’re looking at all of the options on a scheduling basis,” WNBA president Donna Orender said. “The global game is important. We’re part of the global game, we look to fuel the global game. But at the same time, we’re also running a very significant business that needs to succeed.”
The tardiness to report affected how coaches shaped their rosters. Some brought players to camp they knew had little chance of making the team. Then Sacramento coach John Whisenant cast the first strike against the cozy agreement the league had with its players.
In the collective-bargaining agreement, there’s a clause that states a player late to camp can be suspended for a season with their rights reserved to the team or fined up to $250 a day. Whisenant said he had some players who wanted to take a five-day vacation after returning from overseas play, then show up a few days before the Monarchs’ opener at Phoenix.
He threatened suspension. With several new international players, he wanted his core group in camp to work with the newcomers.
The threat threw the league into a tizzy, and Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer, who is also the team’s general manager, became the mouthpiece against players missing training camp to play overseas.
“Our league has gotten to the point where we need to take a stand and say, ‘No, stop, we can’t take this any longer,’ ” Laimbeer said. “The WNBA and the European leagues must come to some sort of agreement that says, this is the way it’s going to be or there’s going to be a fight. And if you don’t want to play in the WNBA, fine. Go play someplace else. But the American players wanted to play in the United States. They need to make sure the league is successful to the best of its ability and with that, they need to make sure everybody is in training camp to have a cohesive unit to start the season.”
Laimbeer is against young players, in particular, heading abroad because they need time to develop and be evaluated. He said second-year Detroit player Chandi Jones is the “poster child” for what’s wrong with the system.
Jones, who earned $36,000 last season, was the eighth overall pick in the 2004 draft. She averaged 12.8 minutes in 31 games, learning on a roster plagued by key injuries and unsteady chemistry. As a guard still fighting for a spot on the team, Jones should have been the first player to return to camp. Instead, she arrived about a week before the opener because she was contractually obligated to her Italian team.
Storm coach Anne Donovan felt the same about some of her players. According to guard Michelle Greco’s agent, the team raised an issue about Greco not reporting on time because she was leading her Italian team to the playoffs. Donovan, already missing Bird, had recently learned Australian Jessica Bibby would be unable to report because of a severe back injury. That put the Storm in a bind as it tried to clear up its backup point guard role, left vacant after Tully Bevilaqua signed as a free agent with Indiana.
Stressed, Greco hustled to join Storm camp after her team was eliminated from the playoffs, beating Bird by 24 hours – then was cut eight days later.
Greco is establishing a more stable career overseas, where there are more jobs. The Italian team wants her to return, and even helped her with the paperwork to become an Italian citizen. If Greco had left just as the team went to the playoffs, the relationship would have been shattered and she wouldn’t have received her final check. Plus, the club team could file a complaint with FIBA, and she could be banned from playing internationally.
And for what? A non-guaranteed WNBA contract paying $31,000?
But Barnes, an eight-year veteran, understands the business side and made the sacrifice to return quickly. She paid $150 to change her flight as soon as her Turkish team lost in the playoffs and trusted the organization would mail her last check, which was more than $2,000. Her effort to win the starting small forward role didn’t work out, and she was released by the Storm.
The league’s collective-bargaining agreement doesn’t expire until after the 2007 season, around the time when Ackerman said the league would make its first profit. Tamika Catchings, the players’ union president and Indiana Fever forward, said the overseas issue is among the topics being discussed.
“If I’m the player, I pressure everybody to make a compromise,” Laimbeer said. “The players are the game. The league’s not the game. The coaches aren’t the game. The players are the game. And the players have to pressure the situation to find a solution so that everybody is happy.”
Catchings played in Korea last off-season and still receives e-mail from fans awaiting her return. She envisions a global calendar happening in the future.
“At some point we have to come to an agreement where people aren’t missing out playing here or playing there,” she said. “But for us players, we have to take advantage of our opportunities, and overseas is where a lot of us make our money.”
Coaches have always dealt with late arrivals from international players. Houston coach Van Chancellor remembers when the league first started in 1997, international stars were the only problem. The WNBA played only 28 games and started its season in June.
This season, Donovan is waiting on Australian center Suzy Batkovic, who will trickle in late with a host of other players in June.
Also in 2005, fans will see a return of Olympic stars to the WNBA. Brazilian Janeth Arcain is back in Houston. China cleared Miao Lijie and Sui Feifei to play for Sacramento.
Of course, some WNBA players, such as Bevilaqua (Australia) and Vodichkova (Czech Republic), were cut from their national teams when they wouldn’t agree to skip the 2004 WNBA season to prepare for the Olympics. The World Championships will pop up in two years, posing another problem.
“I think it’s a shame,” Donovan said. “This is the best league in the world, and to deny a player an opportunity to compete in it is just wrong. We won’t be the best league in the world if we keep certain players out from certain countries.
“But the WNBA is the relatively new kid on the block. We’re messing with their leagues.”
Jackson, who has faced an ultimatum before, would choose her national team next time around.
“We’ve won a championship,” she said of the Storm’s 2004 title. “We’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do over here. I love playing for this team and in Seattle, don’t get me wrong, but Australia is my country. But to really be anyone in basketball, you have to play in the WNBA.”