an NBA mascot earns triple the highest paid player in the WNBA

The controversy over the salary gap between women and men generates controversy again in basketball in the United States. Now a news report revealed that an NBA mascot earns triple the highest paid woman in the WNBAthe women’s league.

The conclusion arises after knowing the salary of “Rocky the Mountain Lion”, the mascot of the Denver Nuggets, the team in which the Serbian Nikola Jokic plays and in which Facundo Campazzo played. Cobra 625 thousand dollars per year, making it the most valuable costume in the NBA.

Instead, the agreement WNBA forecasts maximum salaries of $228,094almost a third of what “Rocky” pockets.

There are three women who reach the top: the legendary Diana Taurasi (with Argentine roots, she knew how to wear the image of Eva Perón on her shoes; she was a three-time champion with the Phoenix Mercury and twice MVP of the Finals), Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd (both from Seattle Storm, with two rings and two MVP of the definition for Stewart).

Those salaries, although among the highest in the women’s league, are also under the shadow of another NBA mascot, “Harry the Hawk”. The friendly cheerleader of the Atlanta Hawks takes $600,000 a yearaccording to the report of Sport Business Journal.

“I can learn to be a mascot,” Angel McCoughtry, the WNBA’s leading scorer in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, reacted on Wednesday in a new chapter of an old controversy.

MVP duel: US $ 228 thousand vs. $45 million

The salary gap in American basketball is best shown in the comparison between the most valuable player in the last WNBA finals and the most valuable player in the NBA.

Kahleah Copperfrom Chicago Sky, receives $202,500 by year. While, Stephen Curry pocketed 45.78 million dollars in the last season. Both ended up with champion rings. Both were distinguished with the highest individual award of the defining series. But the salary difference persists.

The gap between the income of each league is also abysmal, as shown by the contracts signed for the transmission of the matches. The NBA secured, in 2014, a bond for 24 billion dollars for nine seasons. For 2025, when the new contract should come into force, there are already talks that would raise the figure to 75 billion for another nine seasons.

The controversy over the salary gap also filled pages within the WNBA. Becky Hammon landed as coach of the Las Vegas Aces, in exchange for one million dollars per year.

Hammon, 45, was a basketball player in the women’s league and obtained Russian citizenship after years serving in that country, which she represented in two Olympic Games. In addition, she arrived with NBA scrolls, where she was an assistant to Gregg Popovich at the San Antonio Spurs, which marked a milestone in the major leagues in the United States (NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL).

Obtaining Russian citizenship is also symptomatic of the activity of basketball players, who alternate between courts in the United States and those in Europe, to compensate for their low wages in North America. Diana Taurasi participated in the Russian and Turkish leagues; Breanna Stewart did it in China, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey; and Jewell Lloyd traveled to Turkey, China, South Korea and Spain.

In the midst of the controversy over Hammon’s millionaire hiring, Australian Liz Cambage (from Las Vegas Aces and with experience in the Oceania country and China) explained why she preferred to set aside the WNBA for five years to concentrate abroad.

“I was abroad for five seasons because they pay me between 5 and 8 times more than in the United States. Many women go to China or Europe for nine months. It’s hard when you have the ‘best league in the world’, but when they don’t treat you like the best athletes of the world”, was downloaded in an interview in ESPN.

One of the players who changes rest for European or Asian leagues is Brittney Griner. Champion and All-Star with Phoenix Mercury, her last club abroad was UMMC Ekaterinburg, from Yekaterinburg, Russia. Last February, she was arrested at the Moscow airport, after authorities found cannabis oil inside e-cigarette cartridges in her luggage.

The Griner case sharpened diplomatic tensions between the United States and Russia, in full invasion of Ukraine. Washington came to negotiate a prisoner exchange in July, but weeks later the basketball player was found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to 9 years in prison.

With information from EFE

DB​

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