The Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) has suspended its season as the Wuhan coronavirus continues to spread.
The WCBA, the top professional women’s league in Asia, is the offseason home for several WNBA players, including Sky forward Cheyenne Parker and center Stefanie Dolson — both of whom are currently in the U.S.
Several other Chinese sports leagues and events have been affected by the outbreak, which emerged last month in China as the WCBA prepared to begin its monthlong break. The Olympic boxing qualifier in Wuhan next month has been cancelled and the Chinese Football Association postponed the start of its season. Meanwhile, the women’s Olympic soccer qualifiers were moved from Wuhan to Sydney, Australia.
It’s unclear when the WCBA will return to action. Some have indicated it could be as soon as mid-March, but Parker doesn’t believe that’s realistic.
“With everything being publicly announced about how bad it’s getting, and all current flight restrictions, it’s not looking like it will be any time soon,” Parker wrote in a text to the Sun-Times on Thursday.
There’s also a chance the season could be shortened, according to Parker. If that’s the case, Parker, who plays for Sichuan Blue Whales, doesn’t believe she’ll report late to the Sky’s training camp, which opens April 26.
Parker’s Chinese contract is worth $300,000 — more than double her WNBA salary. At this point, she wasn’t sure if the league-wide shutdown would impact her income.
“Because we are under contract with them they are still legally supposed to pay us,” Parker wrote. “I’m not sure if they can wait until the season resumes or if they have to stick to dates on contract but I’ll be finding out about that once pay day (sic) comes, that will let me know how they plan on doing things.”
If there’s one silver lining in this extended break for Parker, it’s that she’ll be able to promote the WNBA at next month’s NBA All-Star Game.
“Thankfully now I’m free and available to do any and all appearances I can since the all star (sic) is in Chicago!” texted Parker, who plans to split her time between Chicago and North Carolina for the next month. “So I am really excited about that!”
Dolson, who plays for Hebei Win Power, didn’t return the Sun-Times’ request for comment.
