Lynx forward Napheesa Collier won’t play abroad anymore after Brittney Griner’s Russian detention
Napheesa Collier is done playing abroad.
The Minnesota Lynx forward said on CNN on Monday that, after watching fellow WNBA star Brittney Griner’s 10-month detention in Russia, that she won’t play in international leagues anymore during the WNBA offseason.
"For me, it's just not worth it."@PHEEsespieces says she won't travel again for the WNBA after Brittney Griner's detention pic.twitter.com/ymLiBt3xcI
— CNN This Morning (@CNNThisMorning) December 12, 2022
“It’s really scary. You really have to evaluate, anyone who wants to go overseas, what it’s going to look like,” Collier said on CNN. “We’re in a big market also, like a lot of money to be had there. But you have to look at, their rules are a lot different than ours, their laws.
“For me, it’s just not worth it. It’s not the same for every player. But I have a family now, being at home is just a better option for me.”
Collier will enter her fifth season in the WNBA this summer. She played in just four games last season in Minnesota, missing the bulk of the season while on maternity leave after she gave birth to her daughter in May. The 26-year-old has averaged 14.6 points and seven rebounds throughout her career. She signed a three-year extension with the Lynx, and will earn an average of $184,172 per season through 2025.
Collier, like plenty of other WNBA stars, has played internationally during the WNBA offseason. She spent 2021 playing for Lattes Montpellier in France’s league.
Griner was playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg in the Russian league when she was detained in February at a Moscow airport. Griner was released from a Russian penal colony last week after nearly 300 days when the United States struck a deal to exchange her for convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout.
Griner is now back in the United States, though her future basketball plans are still unknown.
Like Collier mentioned, there is a lot of money for WNBA players to play in leagues outside of the United States. Players have been doing so since before the WNBA was founded in 1997 as a way to complement their income.
In 2021, the WNBA’s average salary was just more than $120,000. Players can make up to 10 times that playing in Russia, China, Turkey and elsewhere. For example, when WNBA star Diana Taurasi played for UMMC Ekaterinburg in 2015 — the same year she opted to skip the WNBA season — she was making a reported $1.5 million.
WNBA stars Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot, Jonquel Jones and Emma Meesseman have played for that Russian club in the past, too.
Collier was one of 55 WNBA players who was late to training camp in 2021 while playing abroad, something the WNBA is now trying to disincentivize players from doing. At the time, Collier was all for playing during the WNBA offseason.
“I feel like that was a bad move,” Collier said in 2021, via Just Women’s Sports, when asked about the WNBA’s plan to fine players for arriving late. “If I’m not making that much in the [WNBA], if it’s not enough for me to survive on during the year, I’m going overseas and having the summer off.”
But now, after seeing what Griner went through, Collier doesn’t want to risk anything. It’s hard to blame her, even if that means losing out on a big chunk of income.
She likely won’t be the only one staying stateside moving forward, either.
