Is Brittney Griner Receiving Her WNBA Salary While in Russian Jail?

The Phoenix Mercury played their first playoff game of the postseason Wednesday night without their star center, Brittney Griner, who remains detained in a Russian penal colony after a conviction on drug charges.

There is hope Griner could be back in the United States in the near future, though, after a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry confirmed last week that Russia has been involved with the U.S. in prisoner exchange negotiations. But what would life be like for Griner should the trade be successful, returning her home soon? More specifically, what would her financial situation be like after having been locked up since February?

The simple answer is that her bank account should be in decent shape. The WNBA announced in May that Griner would be paid her full salary while she remains in Russia, and the money would not count against the salary cap for the Phoenix Mercury.

Griner signed a three-year contract extension with the Phoenix Mercury for $664,544 in 2020, which will give her $221,450 for the 2021-2022 season and $227,900 for the 2022-2023 season.

Of course, her WNBA salary looks paltry compared to the millions of dollars male basketball stars get paid. It was for that very reason that Griner has traveled to Russia to play during the WNBA off-season for the past seven years, where UMMC Ekaterinburg pays the athlete more than $1 million per season.

But the basketball court isn't the only place where Griner makes money: She also collects a fair amount of money from an endorsement deal with Nike. In 2013, she became the first openly gay athlete to sign a contract with the shoe company when she agreed to a $1 million deal. Currently, Nike is selling Griner jerseys for $100.

Griner could stand to rake in more endorsement deals whenever she makes it back to the United States, as well as possibly collect paychecks for personal appearances. Since many of her supporters feel her incarceration is a political move by Russia, she will likely have many opportunities awaiting her from people looking to help her after the ordeal.

If the prisoner exchange plan proposed by the U.S.—which would see Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout—doesn't work out, Griner could still make it home through the legal system. On Monday, her legal defense team in Russia appealed her conviction.

When she was found guilty by a Russian court in early August for drug smuggling, she was sentenced to nine years in jail and fined about $16,400. She was arrested in February during Russia's build-up to its invasion of Ukraine for carrying vape cartridges that contained a total of 0.702 grams of cannabis oil.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian foreign ministry for comment.