Diana Taurasi to skip 2015 WNBA season after Russians offer her more money

PHOENIX, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi will not play the 2015 WNBA season after being offered money to sit out by her Russian Premier League team.

She has been playing year-round since 2004 and needs some rest, but was given a great offer from a non-WNBA team.

Taurasi makes $107,000, which is just under the maximum for the WNBA. She makes $1.5 million playing overseas and now her club team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, is offering her even more to not play in the WNBA at all this year. The offer, which is not uncommon among winter clubs, is to make sure she doesn't risk burnout or injury.

"The year-round nature of women's basketball takes its toll and the financial opportunity with my team in Russia would have been irresponsible to turn down. They offered to pay me to rest and I've decided to take them up on it. I want to be able to take care of myself and my family when I am done playing," she explained in an open letter.

Her team and the WNBA did not hold it against her.

"An athlete's career is finite, and we support any choice Diana makes in her own best interest and which has the potential to prolong her career," said Mercury General Manager Jim Pitman in an official release. "We know how much Diana cares about the Mercury organization, team and fans. While we do not underestimate her value to our team, we remain committed to our organization's stated mission to win championships and create sustained success. We return the league's best coach and the best core of players in the WNBA, we will work to improve the roster around them, and we will settle for nothing less than defending our title."

Taurasi's self-sidelining raises the issue of how much the WNBA pays their players. The league has had a hard time gaining popularity in the United States and one of the causes might be that their players find better offers and treatment elsewhere. The WNBA remains on a tight budget but the pay structure allows mediocre players to be paid the same amount as Taurasi -- a problem that sees the best players take their business elsewhere.