The lucrative off-season for women’s professional basketball players, when they make the bulk of their income, has dried up this year due to a mix of geopolitical tensions, currency fluctuation and Covid lockdowns.
During the regular season, US Women’s National Basketball Association players earn an average of $130,000 each year -- far less than the multimillion-dollar contracts nabbed by their male counterparts. That pay gap sends about half the league’s 144 players overseas for most of the year, where they can supplement their earnings -- sometimes by $1 million dollars while being jetted around on private planes and indulging in a luxe life sponsored by Russian oligarchs.
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