WNBA star Diana Taurasi goes viral for remarks about pay in Russia vs. WNBA

Diana Taurasi, the WNBA’s all-time scoring leader, has an upcoming three-part docuseries about her illustrious basketball career, “Taurasi.”

Prime Video’s teaser of the docuseries has already gone viral. 

Taurasi has always been candid on and off the court, and the WNBA icon reflected on having to play overseas during the league’s offseason to supplement her income. In a clip from the series, Taurasi lamented having to do it in the first place. 

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Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi celebrates after a 3-point basket against the LA Sparks in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

“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, alluding to her time traveling to Russia. 

“The f—ing janitor at the arena made more than me.”

Taurasi shared a similar sentiment in 2019 on a 30 for 30 podcast, “The Spy Who Signed Me.”

SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM INSTRUCTS REPORTERS TO TELL WNBA COMMISSIONER TO ‘PAY US’ AMID UNION CONTRACT STANDOFF

“Forty-five thousand?” she said when asked about her WNBA salary. “That’s what I’m going to make? That’s what I’m going to make after four years of playing at the most prestigious basketball college? That’s what I’m going to make? I mean, the janitors are going to make more than me. The guy who takes the floor out and puts it back … he’s going to be making more than me.”

Taurasi’s rookie salary with the Phoenix Mercury in 2004 after her tenure at UConn was $42,000. Over the years, that salary trended upward, ultimately leading to a two-year, $469,872 deal in February 2023.

Taurasi made about $1.38 million in the WNBA over her 20-year career in the league. She also sat out the 2015 season because her Russian Premier League team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, paid her not to play in the WNBA. 

Taurasi explained the toll of having to play overseas. 

“One time I came back, and I was like, ‘Man, my parents have just gotten older, and I’ve missed a big part of it.’ We weren’t making that much money, so generational wealth was coming from going to Russia every year,” she said. 

Connecticut’s Diana Taurasi, right, battles past Tennessee’s Kara Lawson as the Connecticut Huskies defeated Tennessee 79-56 in the NCAA women’s semifinals at the Alamodome in San Antonio March 29, 2002. (Imagn)

“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.”

WNBA players still travel overseas to play internationally during the offseason, though the new 3-on-3 Unrivaled league, started by stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, debuted earlier this year to help keep women in the U.S. 

Based on the 2020 collective bargaining agreement for the WNBA, the minimum salary for a player has gone up from $57,000 that year to $66,079 in 2025, according to Spotrac. It will continue to increase to $68,061 in 2026 and $70,103 in 2027. 

But the current CBA expires Oct. 31, 2025, after the WNBPA’s decision to opt out instead of letting it run through the 2027 season. 

Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury at Climate Pledge Arena June 4, 2024, in Seattle. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

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WNBA players have been vocal with their financial demands, recently wearing “Pay Us What You Owe Us” T-shirts before the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis. 

If a new agreement is not reached by the start of the 2026 campaign, there could be a lockout. 

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