WNBA Legend Diana Taurasi Has Some Choice Words For How The League Pays Its Players

Sports documentaries can be goldmines for fans. They typically offer access you don't see anywhere else, and at the very least, you'll get a choice quote or two from someone involved with the story. In Diana Taurasi's case, she's giving us plenty of good access AND quotes—and she's not holding back.

Taurasi is a three-part series now available on Amazon Prime Video. And the WNBA legend isn't mincing her words around how much she and her peers are paid.

"I'm the best player in the world and I have to go to a communist country to get paid like a capitalist…" Taurasi said. "Generational wealth was coming from going to Russia every year. 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 f***ing janitor at the arena made more than me."

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In 2022, Taurasi was tied for the WNBA's highest-paid player, making $228,094 in salary. She made $234,936 in her final two seasons, the highest-paid years of her 20-year career with the Phoenix Mercury. Considering WNBA contracts, international play, and endorsements, Taurasi's career earnings are over $10 million. That makes her one of the highest-earning women's basketball players ever.

Per Spotrac, Taurasi made $1,385,416 in her final eight seasons in the league. That included a massive jump after the new collective bargaining agreement for the WNBA, bumping Taurasi's salary from $119,500 in 2020 to $221,450 in 2021, an 85% raise. Her rookie salary was only $40,800 despite being the #1 draft pick, and her rookie extension in 2007 was worth about $90,000 per year. By 2014, Taurasi had near the league's max salary at $107,000 per year. She was making good money by WNBA standards, but it was less than the value she was bringing to her team and the league.

Add all of that up and Taurasi's total WNBA earnings are likely less than $2 million. She was an 11-time All-Star, 10-time All-WNBA First-Team, three-time champion, and one-time MVP—and she still only averaged less than $100,000 per year from the league.

Compare that to what she made overseas with clubs in Russia and Turkey. From 2005 to 2010, she played for Dynamo Moscow and CSKA Samara in the Russian Premier League, spending two seasons in the Turkish Super League with Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray before returning to Russia for the 2012 season. Russian teams reportedly paid her in excess of $1 million per year. In fact, in 2015, UMMC Ekaterinburg—which also had fellow WNBA star Candace Parker on its roster—paid Taurasi $1.5 million to skip the WNBA season and rest up for their league, instead.

She won six EuroLeague championships, seven Russian National League titles, and was a three-time Russian League Player of the Year. She also added a championship in both the Turkish National League and Turkish Cup. Taurasi made an estimated $7 to $8 million from her Russian deals, so international play made up the bulk of her career earnings.

She also had sponsorship deals with Nike, BodyArmor, State Farm, Coca-Cola, and more. BodyArmor reportedly paid her $1.35 million, significantly more than she ever made during a WNBA season.

Taurasi's strategy is common among WNBA players. Many of them play overseas while the league is in its offseason, trying to increase their wealth while they're still at the top of their game. Though the league is in talks of a new collective bargaining agreement, it doesn't seem like a lot of progress has been made.

And so, this cycle will likely continue, with players heading outside the U.S. to seek more opportunities and cash.