Posted by Mechelle Voepel
The murder of Spartak owner Shabtai von Kalmanovic in Moscow on Monday will have some kind of effect on the entire world of professional women's basketball. Exactly what that will be is what we'll have to wait to find out.
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In the Russian pro league, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi are paid and pampered like Shaq and Dwyane Wade. Revisit Jim Caple's E-Ticket from May 2007, Rolling In Rubles.
Kalmanovic, who was shot to death in his car, paid stars such as Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson salaries far greater than what they made in the WNBA. He gave them presents and bonuses, took them on shopping trips and provided posh living arrangements.
In return, the basketball enthusiast got championships. His passion for the sport was very clear … but his past and his business dealings were more murky. Kalmanovic was Lithuanian by birth but then moved to Israel, where he later spent five years in prison for passing military secrets to the KGB.
With the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, he was among the businessmen to accumulate an enormous amount of wealth in what was sort of a free-for-all in a country that still is finding its way economically and politically.
Well, that's perhaps too nice a way to put it. In Russia, there is an enormous amount of organized crime but not as organized (or as powerful) a means to combat it.
Furthermore, it's difficult to discern the so-called "good guys" from the "bad guys" when it comes to business or politics in Russia. In no small part because there are plenty of people who are both, depending on whom you ask and what situations they're dealing with.
What Kalmanovic might have been involved in is subject to lot of speculation, but he inspired great loyalty among the players he treated well. What will happen to Spartak now?
WNBA officials said they had contacted several of the players who currently are or previously did compete for Spartak and all declined comment. WNBA president Donna Orender also has yet to comment on the Kalmanovic's death and what that could mean for those WNBA players who've financially benefited from their connection with him.
The CSKA women's team in Russia folded earlier this fall. Two of the bigger names that were signed to play for that squad, San Antonio's Becky Hammon and Indiana's Katie Douglas, have moved on to other teams. Hammon will be playing in Spain and Douglas will compete in Turkey.
We'll have to watch how the situation in Russia plays out, but without Kalmanovic to pay out big money, things might change dramatically there. Which, in turn, could also impact leagues elsewhere.
Women's Basketball
