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Recently, the arbitrator from FIBA - the governing body of international basketball - delivered a final judgment in a tribunal pitting Laura Harper against her Turkish club, Besitkas. Harper was a forward for Sacramento for the last two years and will be playing for San Antonio in the 2010 season. It was a joint complaint filed by Harper and her agents against Besitkas.

Here's the entire decision of the arbitration. The issues of complaint:

* That Harper was owed two round trips from Istanbul to any American city during the season.
* That her agents were owed $20,000, and one round-trip ticket to Istanbul.
* That her payments for the 2008-09 season were as follows: $20K, $20K, $15K, $15K, and $15K. All of those payments were approximately one month late, and the final payment was never made.

After that, player and agents and club had their spats.

The agents said that Harper would go back to Turkey but she'd come straight back home if she wasn't paid. The club said that she returned several days late and missed practices. Furthermore, she was "absent from her domicile" several times after 11:30 pm. (Do pro players have a curfew in Turkey? Really?)

Harper gave a notice of termination to the club. The club filed with FIBA for arbitration. The arbitrator filed in favor of Harper - she had a right to terminate because the club had been late for 30 days with a payment. Furthermore, the club had admitted it was late in paying Harper, so that was that. Looking at the document, I can't figure out why the club thought they could win the arbitration.

All in all, it's a very interesting look at the entire issue of salary. If Besitkas had paid Harper - and they had to pay Harper in the end, anyway - she earned $85,000 during the 2008-09 season in Turkey. I found another judgment by Besitkas on behalf of Alexis Hornbuckle - Besitkas owed Hornbuckle $130,000 for 2008-09. (That judgment is very interesting, with some more details of life overseas, about bug-infested apartments and vehicles provided by the club that break down.)

Harper (and Hornbuckle) have two years of experience. During the seasons above in question - they were rookies. As a #4 pick, Hornbuckle could see her WNBA salary start at $44K and end at $56K after three years. As a #10 pick, Harper's WNBA salary would range from $36K to $46K. The most any player can see in salary according to the 2008 collective bargaining agreement was $102K; who knows what that was lowered to after negotiations this year? And when you're naming players who could qualify for max salary (now or someday) you think of Diana Taurasi and Lauren Jackson, not Alexis Hornbuckle and Laura Harper.

And yet, those players were pulling down $85K and $130K respectively. In Turkey! As rookies!! Can you imagine what the Spaniards would have paid those players if they were good enough to play in the Liga Femenina? What the Poles would have paid them if they were in the PLKK? What the Russians would have paid them in Superleague A? (I shudder to think what Epipphany Prince is earning now.)

The WNBA simply can't compete with that kind of cash. If Turkish clubs are throwing around six figure salaries now, with free lodging and club cars provided, with round trip tickets - for rookies - then imagine what Euroleague contenders are offering. All I can say is this: be glad that players are playing in the W. Be glad that the majority of American roundballers aren't pulling a Deanna Nolan and remaining overseas. The women's pro basketball world is split between the haves and the have nots...and it looks like we're the have-nots.

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