Amid violence, WNBA players consider leaving Turkey

WNBA players like the New York Liberty’s Sugar Rodgers, left, who play in Turkey in the offseason find themselves increasingly fearful of living in the country in wake of recent violence, such as the New Year’s Eve attack on an Istanbul nightclub. (Associated Press photos)

FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2017, file photo, medics carry a wounded person at the scene after an attack at a popular nightclub in Istanbul. As violence has escalated in nearby Syria, and after a deadly nightclub attack in a neighborhood where some players celebrated on New Year’s Eve in Istanbul, a handful of WNBA players told The Associated Press they want to come back to the U.S. as soon as possible. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of contract negotiations and out of fear they could become targets if they said publicly they wanted to leave. (IHA via AP, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2015, file photo, Indiana Fever guard Shavonte Zellous (1) drives against the Minnesota Lynx in the first half of Game 2 of the WNBA basketball finals, in Minneapolis. Zellous has spent her last eight winters in Istanbul playing. She's loved the culture she's experienced in Turkey and it has been a second home to her. But she is weighing if it is worth risking her safety. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

FILE - In this June 24, 2016, file photo, New York Liberty's Shavonte Zellous wears rainbow-colored "pride" sneakers with the words "Orlando Strong," "Orlando United" and "LGBT" written on them before a WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky in New York. Zellous has spent her last eight winters in Istanbul playing. Zellous said that the WNBA players in Turkey have a group text chat where staying in the country is routinely discussed. The 30-year-old grew up near gunfire in her neighborhood and later lived near the site of the Orlando nightclub shooting and knew people killed there. That made the Istanbul attacks hit home and made her more aware of her own safety. (AP Photo/Doug Feinberg, File)

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By Doug Feinberg (AP Basketball Writer)

NEW YORK — Sugar Rodgers left not long after she arrived.

The New York Liberty guard traveled to Turkey this past fall after the WNBA season ended to play basketball there. She had spent a few years bouncing around other foreign leagues, then signed with Osmaniye — a team about two hours from the Syrian border.

She lasted a month in the country town where she was living before returning to Virginia in November.

“I heard about a bombing that killed 17 people about two hours away and right there I was like I don’t want to stay,” Rodgers said. “The government shut off all lines of communication so I couldn’t get on Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp. It was pretty scary not to be able to communicate with anyone.”

Rodgers was one of about two dozen WNBA players playing this winter in Turkey. For years, the 14-team Turkish league has provided the opportunity for players to supplement their WNBA incomes in the offseason, offering salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — sometimes more than three times what they make in the U.S.-based league.

The European leagues have a different mindset than the WNBA, with owners being willing to lose money to fund teams for the prestige of winning the domestic league and international competitions such as the Euro League and Euro Cup that bring together the best teams from around the continent. Some of the women’s teams are part of multisport clubs that make money in soccer or men’s basketball. Also unlike the WNBA, there is no salary cap, and it’s not uncommon for local governments or sponsors to chip in financially to acquire marquee talent.

But amid violence in nearby Syria, and after a deadly nightclub attack in a neighborhood where some players celebrated on New Year’s Eve in Istanbul, some players are reconsidering their contracts. A handful of WNBA players told The Associated Press they want to come back to the U.S. as soon as possible. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of contract negotiations and out of fear they could become targets if they said publicly they wanted to leave.

Getting out of their Turkish contracts could depend on how they are written. Some players have assurances that if the U.S. government recommends that a country is not safe for Americans, they can opt out.

In October, the State Department put out warnings to U.S. citizens of increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey. U.S. citizens should avoid travel to southeast Turkey and carefully consider the risks of travel to and throughout the country.

A spokesman for the Turkish Basketball Federation did not respond to an AP request for comment.

Not all WNBA players want to leave. San Antonio Stars guard Danielle Robinson just signed a contract before the New Year to play with Mersin — a team in south Turkey.

“I put a lot of thought into my decision to play in Turkey and it was the right choice for me. The benefits outweighed the risk,” Robinson wrote in an email.