Gabby Williams Returns to Play Overseas After Viral WNBA Pay Criticism

Seattle Storm guard Gabby Williams has been at the center of much discussion about the WNBA’s pay structure in recent days.

Williams — who has split time between playing in Europe and in the WNBA since entering professional basketball in 2018 — delivered clear criticism of the WNBA and commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s “not true” claims about how much money the WNBA pays its players during her end-of-season exit interview with the Storm on Thursday.

In the interview (which has since gone viral), Williams said, “Our commissioner talked about us being able to make $700,000. That’s actually not true at all. There’s not one player who makes that.

“We were promised team marketing agreements and league marketing agreements, but they’ve fallen quite short,” Williams continued. “So it’s still not enough for us international players to want to stay here. And that’s a choice of the players. If I make a choice to make more money, whatever, and then teams are mad that I don’t come back, but that’s how it is.

Williams followed this up with a TikTok on Friday that addressed some of the feedback she received, as it pertains to Caitlin Clark’s fanbase claiming that the rookie earned more than $700,000 from the WNBA this season.

“So I know all these, you know, Caitlin Clark fans, whatever, like ‘Caitlin Clark makes $700,000’. That’s off of endorsements. I’m not talking about endorsements,” Williams said in the TikTok. “I’m talking about the WNBA. And no, there is not one player in the entire WNBA that makes the money that the commissioner likes to brag about. And that was the point of that clip as well.”

Williams appeared to have posted that TikTok from an airplane. And on Saturday, it became clear where the 28-year-old was headed.

She has returned overseas to play with the Istanbul, Turkey-based professional basketball team, Fenerbahçe S.K.

Fenerbahçe S.K. posted an image of Williams holding up their team banner on Saturday with the caption, “Yeni transferimiz Gabby Williams, İstanbul’da! 💛💙

“Welcome to Istanbul, @gabbywilliams15! 🫶”

This caption (loosely) translates to, “Our new transfer, Gabby Williams, is in Istanbul!”

Given that Fenerbahçe S.K.’s season continues until June 1, 2025, this would theoretically mean that Williams, who is an unrestricted free agent in the WNBA, would miss the start of the next WNBA season (which is also what she elected to do in 2024).

But Williams is clearly prioritizing money at this point rather than playing in the WNBA.