Voepel interviews Cambage

[pap49cba]

LINK

 

[semper]

Are you serious? 46K is all a rookie makes. That is outrageous. It's amazing any of them play.

 

[Scotter]

Do you realize how many people would jump at the chance to make $46K with free housing and benefits for 4 months work? The median household income in the US is less the $60k.

Have people forgotten that as recently as the 1980's male athletes in the major sports still had regular offseason jobs? Win a Superbowl on Sunday and then go back to selling cars the next week. They get to play basketball year around and have a combined income in the 6 figures per year. Good grief. They're pretty darn lucky.

Are you serious? 46K is all a rookie makes. That is outrageous. It's amazing any of them play.

 

[easttexastrash]

Are you serious? 46K is all a rookie makes. That is outrageous. It's amazing any of them play.

For the average recent college graduate $46K is not too bad for three or four months of work. For a foreign player I'm not sure it's worth it financially to uproot your life and head to the US.

However, as mentioned by both Cambage and LJ, it's the best opportunity to improve their games.

 

[easttexastrash]

Do you realize how many people would jump at the chance to make $46K with free housing and benefits for 4 months work? The median household income in the US is less the $60k.

Have people forgotten that as recently as the 1980's male athletes in the major sports still had regular offseason jobs? Win a Superbowl on Sunday and then go back to selling cars the next week. They get to play basketball year around and have a combined income in the 6 figures per year. Good grief. They're pretty darn lucky.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

 

[ThisJustIn]

It's a business. That's the salary the business xan afford. Add perks of housing, transport and food and it's a sweet gig.
*there also may ave been some sarcasm involved in the above post*

 

[Scotter]

If I missed it then that is my fault. I only skimmed the article. Although I do understand what Cambage is saying in her specific case. If the WNBA was in Brazil there would be far more American players who would pass up the lesser salaries, but I do think most of them would play for the combination of money and competition. And skipping the WNBA during the Olympic years isn't that uncommon. It just happens that players like Lauren Jackson and Penny Taylor have been playing for championship contending teams in the WNBA and had greater incentives to return to the WNBA.

*there also may ave been some sarcasm involved in the above post*

 

[UcMiami]

Do you realize how many people would jump at the chance to make $46K with free housing and benefits for 4 months work? The median household income in the US is less the $60k.

Have people forgotten that as recently as the 1980's male athletes in the major sports still had regular offseason jobs? Win a Superbowl on Sunday and then go back to selling cars the next week. They get to play basketball year around and have a combined income in the 6 figures per year. Good grief. They're pretty darn lucky.

Well, when you consider they are in the top 1% of college graduates in their field, they are maybe not over paid. And when you consider the minimum wage for any of the men's pro league sports is probably 5+ times that salary it isn't all that much. (And they do not get free housing (if that wasn't a joke in another response))
Not saying it is bad pay compared to the average US wage or anything like that - but these folks aren't average. The highest paid women's basketball player has to play her whole career to earn what the highest paid male basketball player earns in one year. And that includes both WNBA and their European earnings combined 12 months vs. 6 months.

 

[easttexastrash]

Their product simply isn't in demand, thus their salaries are lower. It's pretty simple math. At this point, if they want to play in the US it means a lower salary. The NBA is wildly profitable and popular and without the ongoing support of the NBA the WNBA would probably have folded by now.

That's why I have argued that it is so important for the top American players to make every effort to play. The league is still too young and underdeveloped to withstand players taking so much time off. It really makes me respect LJ for her dedication to the league. Even Penny Taylor went to Phoenix to support the team even though she can't play.

 

[easttexastrash]

Well, when you consider they are in the top 1% of college graduates in their field, they are maybe not over paid. And when you consider the minimum wage for any of the men's pro league sports is probably 5+ times that salary it isn't all that much. (And they do not get free housing (if that wasn't a joke in another response))
Not saying it is bad pay compared to the average US wage or anything like that - but these folks aren't average. The highest paid women's basketball player has to play her whole career to earn what the highest paid male basketball player earns in one year. And that includes both WNBA and their European earnings combined 12 months vs. 6 months.

I'm guessing that a nurse or teacher in the top 1% of his or her class doesn't make the equivalent of $180+K a year in the first year out of college.

How long does the season last in China? At $400,000 Cambage can afford to play in that league and then sit on her ass the rest of the year. That could be the equivalent of ten years of salary for teachers in poorly paying states. The average teacher salary in Mississippi is about $41K.

 

[Scotter]

Minimum salary for MLS is $33,700. NY Times article from this May and here is a list of every MLS player salary for 2012. Remember the league itself pays the salaries of some of the higher priced palaries that the individual teams can't afford themselves

And the WNBA players do indeed get free housing. Many players elect not to use it because it typically involves living with one or more other players and they make plenty of money even at $46,000 to afford housing, but there is free housing available. A number of the Minnesota Lynx share apartments for example.

Well, when you consider they are in the top 1% of college graduates in their field, they are maybe not over paid. And when you consider the minimum wage for any of the men's pro league sports is probably 5+ times that salary it isn't all that much. (And they do not get free housing (if that wasn't a joke in another response))

 

[Man-Man]

Can't really consider it being only 4 months, my niece who played WNBA made 37k and figured she'd work in the offseason, turns out that working actually took away from her being able to compete at that level as she wasn't able to put in the 4 hours a day training that she was used to. Also her job wasn't cool with her taking off work for training camp and the leave of absence for the season. Ended up out of the league after her second year and currently looking for a job.

 

[sarals24]

Plus, it's not like a normal 9-5 job where after X amount of years your pay increases, you might get promoted, you are laying the foundation for a long career (hopefully). For some players in the WNBA (and very very few, at that), they will make more money the longer they play, maybe get endorsements, etc. But for others, they will play for a few years then have to enter the workforce as basically a new jobseeker. If they go into coaching, maybe it's different, but if they want to use their college major, then it is going to be tougher to find a job. So that 46,000 a year doesn't look like so much if it's only for a short time and you aren't able to pursue your other career while making it.

I get why so many players want to play overseas and maximize their talents while they can. It's a much different life than a male pro, for sure. And I'm not saying that anyone is entitled to make any amount of money for playing basketball, but it's not as if they can leisurely live on making around 50k for a few years and then take their time looking for a job after they retire, get cut, etc.

 

[AllAmerRedHeads]

no sympathy here. Suck it up. I know too many players that played 200+ games in 7 months that didnt make much but did whatever they could to keep playing the game they loved after high school.

lived out of suitcases, slept while traveling up to 600 miles by car to the next game.

It was a hard life and many didnt play more than a year or 2. yet they wouldnt trade it for anything now.

not saying pro basketball is easy in todays world, yet how many people would have loved to be a pro athlete instead of what they are doing.