When Spartak owner Shabtai von Kalmanovic was murdered in Moscow on Monday, the women's basketball world was rocked. Kalmanonic put together a powerhouse team in Russia with Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson. He showered his players with huge paychecks and opulent accommodations, and he raised the standard for top U.S. players overseas.
And he won championships.
The WNBA has not commented on Kalmanovic's death but has to be watching the investigation closely considering that some of the league's biggest names are tied in here. Spartak's current roster includes Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles and Janel McCarville, with Bird and Jackson yet to report because of injuries.
The team's coach is former LSU coach Pokey Chatman. The safety of the athletes and staff has to be of utmost concern -- especially with Russian investigators speculating that the murder may be associated with his ownership of the team -- but not the only one.
The murder -- Kalmanovic was shot 20 times while riding through Moscow in an armored car -- raises plenty of awkward, troubling questions about his business dealings, whether he may have been tied to organized crime, where the money that he paid his players actually came from.
It looks unseemly WNBA to have its star players associated with ill-gotten monies and murder. It probably never looked good to have players involved with a former KGB spy who once faced U.S. charges of theft, fraud and embezzlement, but huge paychecks and generous living conditions kept the uncomfortable conversations at bay for a long time.
Probably not anymore.
TAURASI CASE CLOSED: The news that Taurasi's DUI case had come to a quiet resolution wasn't a big surprise. Her originally scheduled court date on Oct. 30 would have been a media circus. It also would have prevented her from heading to Russia to join Spartak.
Taurasi, arrested July 2, has been nothing but accountable, remorseful and open about her mistake. She has taken responsibility publicly at every turn and that surely had to play well with the judge in her case who suspended nine days of her 10-day sentence. Charges of extreme DUI and speeding were also dropped.
BETTY FINDS RENEWAL: Kathy Betty knew it was time to move forward after the 2007 cancer death of her husband, Earthlink CEO Gary Betty. But she did not know how.
"Nothing was exciting, different ventures came up, but nothing was exciting me," Betty said. "What was so intriguing to me about the WNBA was the opportunity for mentoring and role-modeling for young girls and boys."
And the small matter of what Betty called "the business challenge."
"Everyone is saying it is hard to make money in women's sports," Betty said. "I looked at the team. We've got the coach of the year, the rookie of the year ... we made the playoffs in our second season. What a great product. You've just got to put the business model together to make it work. It became really obvious to me the things that would make me happy in life and this was it."
Betty took over last week as the managing partner of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream, assuming the reins from Ron Terwilliger, who relinquished his ownership rights because of financial difficulties. Dream Too, LLC, an investment group led by Betty will own the team.
Betty said she hasn't had much sleep she took over the team last week. And she's learned that she's got the backing of her community.
"One thing I know, is a lot of people in the state of Georgia know a lot about sports and they have all offered their help," Betty said. "The business leaders of Atlanta are behind us, and now we've got to make a compelling case for why this makes sense, to be supporting women's sports."
