Playing Basketball Overseas, Why Do It? Jordan D. Brown

Megan Mullings took a nontraditional career path, not knowing where it would take her, but stayed consistent as she steadily went down the road of professional basketball overseas.

The idea of professional basketball comes with high glamour like seeing different countries across the world and living like a celebrity. What doesn’t get talked about is the lonely nights and separation from the rest of the world you once lived in.

The length of professional basketball seasons varies based on what country, but most players are away from home for several months.

Not only are they away from home, but in a separate country, players must miss out on their loved ones’ birthdays, weddings, holidays, funerals, life milestones, and spending time together.

Staying in touch is a challenge as well with the time differences and additional costs to phone bills for international calls.

Mullings has played basketball overseas since 2016 in various countries, but even after six years what gets to her most is the little things like missing hugs from her mom and dad.

“You spend a year, like nine months, eight to nine months depending on your season where like the most physical contact that you have is like high fives with your teammates,” Mullings said. “You don't have hugs from your mom and your dad. You don't have your little siblings crawling up on you…I'm used to having a lot of family around me all the time.”

The life of Megan Mullings, and many other women, fit the picture as a professional basketball player that went down the sports path without any idea of the experiences she would see along the way.

More eyes have been on women traveling overseas to play basketball, especially after the detainment of WNBA star Brittney Griner in Russia earlier this year.

While traveling to Russia for her basketball season, Griner was arrested for possessing cannabis oil and then charged with drug smuggling and possession. The WNBA All Star and U.S. Olympic Gold medalist was found guilty and sentenced to over nine years in prison.

Aside from the unimaginable situation Griner is in, interviews with several women basketball players like Mullings show why they still go, even after missing life in the U.S. and newly added on fears with Griner’s case.

Mullings said the battle of being away can overweigh the desire to play basketball, so there has to be something more than just basketball to keep you grounded.

As she currently plays Czech Republic, Mullings has found different interests and avenues to explore outside of just basketball to enjoy her time overseas.

“It's hard. It gets really lonely sometimes and you really have to love this and more than just like ‘Oh like I'm pretty good at basketball.’ If you only, do it because you're pretty good at basketball, it's not fun,” Mullings said.

“It takes the right personality to go overseas.”

David Driver, author of Hoop Dreams in Europe: American Basketball Players Building Careers Overseas, believes it takes certain characteristics to get through the challenges of being overseas.

His book focuses on both men and women basketball players who made the difficult decision to play overseas and their adjustments to the lifestyle. It takes more than just talent, but also the ability to be alone and in a completely new space is what gets people.

“I think what I learned is that it takes the right personality to go overseas and play as an American. You know, talent, you obviously have to be talented, but the ones that thrive are able to adapt culturally,” Driver said.

For players like Mullings, race and gender is also a factor that goes into being overseas and in a new environment for the first time. In his book, Driver profiled several players of color and detailed their unique experiences in a country that may differ from the United States in terms of racism and discrimination.

“To be a person of color to go to Europe, that can be a challenge in some cultures, and we certainly know that there's challenges that you face in America society,” Driver said.

“There are some small towns you know, in Hungary and other countries that are very white. [My family and I] lived in one of them so you know, if you're a person of color, you definitely stick out walking down the street,” Driver added.

Mullings feels one of the many dangers of going to different countries where there is a language barrier and different laws than the United States is the potential racism at play, especially after the political crisis Griner is facing.

“It was a really big reminder that like even though we do something amazing, and we are professional, and we are all of these things like at the end of the day, there's still people that are going to treat you how they want to because of some reason,” Mullings said.

Along with the added fears, Mullings said one thing she does when traveling to a new country is reaching out to the previous American player before her to gather more information about the area.

“One thing I've done is whenever I'm going to go to a new team, I find out who was the import there before and like, why did you leave? Why aren't you there anymore? Is there something I should be aware of? A lot of times they're like, ‘No, it's cool. I just wanted to go to a different country. But hey, these are the places you have to check out. Here's the club scene. You know, here's the people that are kind of sketchy watch out for them,’” Mullings said.

What’s it all for? Not always the WNBA.

Most would assume that American women playing professional basketball overseas are striving to land a spot in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA,) but that’s not always the case.

After nine years of professional basketball, Jennie Rintala is content with where her career stands, without the WNBA on her resume.

Rintala played college basketball at South Dakota State University before starting her career in Australia.

Rintala recently played in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) in Australia where she competed with WNBA and national level Australian players with experience in the Olympics and the World Cup.

Competing with some of the top players in the WNBA and the world was an opportunity of a lifetime for Rintala, but the idea of playing in the WNBA itself was never at the forefront of her mind.

“WNBA has never really been an aspiration of mine and me getting my goal at the WNBL was my career goal,” Rintala said.

“I actually feel like I've reached my career goals,” Rintala said. “So, WNBA, yes it sounds amazing. But again, such a small percentage of people actually get to play in that. So, it didn't feel ever attainable.”

The WNBA only has 12 teams and 144 roster spots, which limits 12 players to each team. Each year, 36 women are selected in the draft, but they are more than likely cut by the start of the season to fit the final 12 player roster.

In the 2022 WNBA draft, only 17 of the 36 rookies made it to the final roster, according to Just Women’s Sports.

Based on the WNBA’s draft data from 2019, the probability of making it to the league after collegiate basketball is a merely 0.8 percent. Behind every draft pick is 100 more women gunning for a spot in the WNBA.

The pay for WNBA plays a factor as well in the reasoning for women playing overseas. While top WNBA stars like Griner, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Jonquel Jones can make over $1 million playing overseas, they make just a fourth of that as a base salary in the WNBA, according to the Associated Press.

Cori Coleman knows this all too well after her attempt to make the WNBA prior to her career overseas. After graduating from Cleveland State University in 2015, Coleman played in multiple WNBA combines to showcase her talents to coaches and agents ahead of the draft.

The reality of the situation was when it comes to the limited rosters, there is not enough space in the league to guarantee a spot for everyone, regardless of one’s talent.

“Playing in the WNBA is not too far-fetched, but there's only a limited amount of roster spots,” Coleman said. “Once the veterans are solidified, nine of those spots are taken from players from the past, so then they only have spots for three more people and those three more people are the top 10 draftees, most likely and even top 10 some of them get cut. So overseas is the best bet.”

After she didn’t make any rosters, she thought the most logical thing to do next was play overseas where she has held a successful career across the world, most recently in Switzerland. From Finland to Morocco. Luxembourg to Germany. Egypt to Switzerland and all the sights seen between.

Although the journey of making the WNBA led Rintala and Coleman to go overseas, that’s not the case for all.

Amanda Cahill never imagined playing basketball professionally after college or overseas but looks at it now as more than just a chance to play basketball and instead to explore the world.

“I never really planned on doing it, but my senior year of thinking, the opportunity kind of presented itself to me and I thought why not? I like traveling, and I wanted to see more of Europe. So, it seemed like kind of a good solution,” Cahill said.

Since then, she has played in Luxembourg and visited several countries along the way.

What makes it all worth it?

Despite all the factors at play that could make someone not want to take on international basketball, thousands of women still take on the challenge each year.

Whether it’s for the love of the game, a chance at a higher league, or the once in a lifetime opportunity to see the world while playing a sport, everyone has their reason why that keeps them going.

“I think what makes me continue playing is my passion to put women's basketball on the map even more. The longer I've been playing overseas and seen the small changes that has been made by, I feel like it's my duty to continue playing,” Rintala said.

Along with the love for the game is the support system American players offer each other as imports in different countries, knowing the challenges of being away from home but still being there for one another the best they can.

“There's a big camaraderie amongst imports overseas. We all just kind of get around each other and try to support each other the best we can because we know that each of us is struggling with maybe missing family or missing home,” Mullings said.

As players like Rintala, Mullings, and Coleman enter their thirties and advance to the end of their careers, there’s more beyond the sport itself that brings them back to basketball each year.

“I love where basketball can take me so that's why I'm still playing a sport,” Coleman said.

“I love traveling, I love seeing new cultures. I love seeing new people I love just seeing what the world has to offer. And basketball is a really cool way to do that,” Mullings said.