When it was announced this week that Shavonte Zellous and Natalie Achonwa would miss time from the Indiana Fever this summer, in order to play with foreign countries, I was at one point approached with a look of grave concern … as if to suggest, “what is the matter?” or “why is this happening?”

I was asked if this was akin to Diana Taurasi being paid by her Russian team not to play in the WNBA this summer. In short, that answer is a resounding NO. The examples are not at all close, except that certainly, yes, some American players may stand to benefit financially by obtaining foreign passports and citizenship. In truth, Taurasi is still American. She is being paid by her club team (franchise), not a national team. Her circumstance this year is purely an understandable acceptance of a remarkable amount of dough.

So let’s add some clarity to the situation.

First, Achonwa is Canadian, though she played her college ball at Notre Dame and has lived in the United States the past five years. She was born in Toronto and represented Canada in the 2012 Olympics. Canada is the host of this summer’s Pan Am Games and later the FIBA Americas Championships which is a qualification tournament for the 2016 Olympics. So it is understandable that Achonwa should represent her native country during a time of great pride in hosting both of these events.

Zellous, however, was born in Orlando, Fla. She played collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh. Other than her overseas stints throughout Europe, she is absolutely American. So how is it that she has become a naturalized citizen in Croatia?

That, my friends, is the “not so uncommon” aspect of professional basketball that most casual fans have a hard time understanding. Truthfully, it happens in the men’s game, too, though not to as great an extent.

Remember Becky Hammon? The current assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs was born in South Dakota. She played her college ball at Colorado State. She played in the WNBA with the New York Liberty and San Antonio Stars, yet she became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2008 and represented the Russian national team in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

She is the best-known example of a trend that is not new in this sport. She was an American player that essentially didn’t have the opportunity to play with the U.S. National Team, but was given the opportunity elsewhere. Because it was with America’s Cold War rival Russia, and because she had become a WNBA All-Star, too, she drew the biggest headlines. She was among the first to do it and certainly best known to do it.

Fever fans also know very well of local favorite Katie Douglas. Though she never represented another country, her former husband was Greek and she maintained residence during part of the year in Greece. It was rumored at times that she would accept Greek citizenship and play with the Greece national team. It did not happen, but would have been a significant story during her time with the Fever prior to the 2012 Olympics.

Not only is dual citizenship in basketball not a new trend, it’s relatively widespread … though if you don’t follow WNBA player transactions and browse WNBA box scores on a daily basis, you might not realize it.

Since the mid-2000s, here is a list of just SOME (probably most; all that I could find in my imperfect research exercise) of the players with foreign citizenship in other countries:

By this very unofficial count, there have been at least 15 WNBA players obtain citizenship in different nations from their native country. Ten are current players who could miss varying amounts of time with their WNBA clubs this summer. This small list does not even account for foreign-born players, like Achonwa or numerous Australians and Brazilians, who have and will miss WNBA time to represent their own countries; or players with dual citizenship due to the nationality of their parents.

The phenomenon is mostly a reflection of the wacky world of women’s basketball – influenced by both economics and the WNBA’s summer playing schedule. By obtaining naturalized citizenship in another country, players can pursue opportunities for international and Olympic play that they might not be afforded if they remained in the United States. Further, they stand to make more money with European teams during the regular winter season, because they can report to clubs as “European” and not be limited by the number of Americans that might be allowed on each roster.

When the U.S. National Team is dotted with players that all are perennial WNBA All-Stars like Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Maya Moore and others, the less frequent WNBA All-Stars like Hammon or Douglas or Zellous might not receive invitation to the U.S. training camp.

Given the chance for greater earnings and a possible bid in the Olympics, it makes sense that these players might take advantage of their opportunities. Even as odd as circumstances may seem to the casual observer, if you were in their situation, I think you would consider the same.

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