For professional women’s basketball players, the WNBA offseason is spent playing overseas for teams in Russia, Europe and the Middle East.
Gainesville graduate Tasha Humphrey is no exception.
Humphrey signed Thursday to play with Isreal’s Electra Ramat-Hasharon, a member of the FIBA Euroleague, becoming the team’s first foreign signee of the season.
Ramat-Hasharon went 7-5 during the 2007-2008 season and made it to the Women’s EuroCup semifinals.
Humphrey joins Jia Perkins out of Texas Tech and Chasity Melvin out of North Carolina State as the only Americans on the squad.
The draw for American pros to go overseas comes from the ability to stay in shape, and the money.
According to ESPN.com, Sue Bird, a point guard for the Seattle Storm, makes $93,000 a year in the WNBA and $372,000 a year playing for FC Spartak Moscow.
Her former University of Connecticut teammate Diana Taurasi plays for the same team and earns roughly 10 times as much as the $49,000 her WNBA Phoenix Mercury will pay her this season.
The minimum WNBA salary for players with up to three years of experience is $30,600, and for players with four or more years of experience it’s $43,700. The maximum WNBA salary is $87,000. 2004 WNBA Rookies make somewhere between $41,000 and $34,000. Players on the team that wins the WNBA championship each get a bonus of $10,000. Players on the runner-up team each get $5,000.
Humphrey, a four-time All-SEC performer at the University of Georgia, is currently playing for the Detroit Shock where she has started 16 of 22 games. She is shooting 40 percent from the 3-point line and 50 percent from the field. The rookie forward has scored double figures eight times including a Shock rookie record 28 points in a win over Phoenix.
The WNBA is currently on a month-long hiatus because of the Olympics. Play will resume Aug. 28.
Gainesville graduate Tasha Humphrey is no exception.
Humphrey signed Thursday to play with Isreal’s Electra Ramat-Hasharon, a member of the FIBA Euroleague, becoming the team’s first foreign signee of the season.
Ramat-Hasharon went 7-5 during the 2007-2008 season and made it to the Women’s EuroCup semifinals.
Humphrey joins Jia Perkins out of Texas Tech and Chasity Melvin out of North Carolina State as the only Americans on the squad.
The draw for American pros to go overseas comes from the ability to stay in shape, and the money.
According to ESPN.com, Sue Bird, a point guard for the Seattle Storm, makes $93,000 a year in the WNBA and $372,000 a year playing for FC Spartak Moscow.
Her former University of Connecticut teammate Diana Taurasi plays for the same team and earns roughly 10 times as much as the $49,000 her WNBA Phoenix Mercury will pay her this season.
The minimum WNBA salary for players with up to three years of experience is $30,600, and for players with four or more years of experience it’s $43,700. The maximum WNBA salary is $87,000. 2004 WNBA Rookies make somewhere between $41,000 and $34,000. Players on the team that wins the WNBA championship each get a bonus of $10,000. Players on the runner-up team each get $5,000.
Humphrey, a four-time All-SEC performer at the University of Georgia, is currently playing for the Detroit Shock where she has started 16 of 22 games. She is shooting 40 percent from the 3-point line and 50 percent from the field. The rookie forward has scored double figures eight times including a Shock rookie record 28 points in a win over Phoenix.
The WNBA is currently on a month-long hiatus because of the Olympics. Play will resume Aug. 28.