WNBA Salary Rankings Listing the top salaries, cap hits, cash, earnings, contracts, and bonuses, for all active WNBA players. Deals can't be officially signed until Feb. 1. For picks 5-8, the rookie base salary drops to $69,224. She, along with 7 other WNBA players, also has a Glossier deal. Lets see which WNBA superstars have pocketed the most cash money over the past few years. This is over half of the average viewership for an average NFL game, the undisputed king of American sports from a viewership and revenue perspective. While we have cited some numbers above that indicate that players in the W are underpaid even relative to current revenue, the point is that the leagues revenue is not where it should be. The basketball gender pay gap is significant. Hansel Enmanuel is the highest earning college basketball player with an NIL value of $1.5 million. NBA Player Salaries - 2022-2023 . At the end of the day, salaries have to be related to revenue. Emoni Bates is one of the highest earning college basketball players, with an NIL value of $657,000.Bates is a 610 small forward and was the fifth best player in the recruiting class of 2021.Bates originally committed to Michigan State, then rescinded his commitment to attend Memphis. It's a large turn from Major League Baseball, where its top player, Max Scherzer makes roughly 10 times more than the. After being drafted as the #1 pick in 2016, Stewie swept the WNBA Regular Season MVP and WNBA Finals MVP. She has also, Breanna Mackenzie Stewart (ne Baldwin; born August 27, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Earlier, we pointed out that the WNBA is a young league. WNBA Salary Rankings | Spotrac WNBA Salary Rankings Listing the top salaries, cap hits, cash, earnings, contracts, and bonuses, for all active WNBA players. Young is set to make $252,450 this season. Her decision came in spite of a panel of league-appointed doctors who would not deem her medically excused from play in the WNBA Bubble, which would have allowed the Mystics to withhold her 2020 salary. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that many of the richest contracts in WNBA history were signed over the last couple of seasons. All these are the details about the top 10 highest paid WNBA players along with their contract salary and net worth. Why? She led the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies to four national championships, was named the Final Four's most outstanding player a record four times, and was a three-time consensus national player of the year. In Dianas 17-year career, shes broken WNBA records and has attained a plethora of accolades including being a 3-time WNBA champion. She is one of only 11 women to attain all four accolades. But currently, she plays in Russia for the UMMC Ekaterinburg team, where she continues to astound on the court. In Australia, she currently plays for the Southside Flyers. So she now rakes in almost $100,000 more than that. Even so, that feat earned Diana another $1,803. Which earned Brittney another $1,803 dollars in bonus cash. While the revenue versus player income statistics in the last sections were compelling in and of themselves, our silver bullet in arguing that WNBA players are due for a larger payday is looking at potential league revenue. See the highest and lowest player salaries in the NBA on ESPN.com. She is playing as Shooting guard for Seattle Storm. Brittney is a powerhouse when it comes to overseas play and shes compensated pretty well for it. In spite of the Suns disappointing loss in the WNBA Finals, Bonner enjoyed an efficient postseason that saw her come up clutch in the semifinals against the Chicago Sky. Breanna Stewart has signed with UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia for 2020, and will return to EuroLeague play this season. 2023 Salary: $234,350. The average NBA player makes about 60x as much as the average WNBA player. For opponents of increased average WNBA salaries, this is the end of the argument. Skylar Kierra Diggins-Smith (born August 2, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). A'ja Wilson has a long and illustrious career ahead of her. The 24-year-old guard made her first All-Star team last year after averaging 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists. Jackie Young, the highest-paid WNBA player As of February, the title of the highest-paid WNBA player belongs to Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces. Elsewhere around the league, star players are enjoying new lucrative contracts. At 41 years old, Sue Bird will have been in the league for an astonishing 19 seasons and 20 years in 2022, breaking records and dazzling fans all over the world. She is the tallest and highest paid WNBA player. Jewell Loyd (born October 5, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Perfumerias Avenida of Spain's Liga Femenina de Baloncesto and the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Most recently, her impact was big enough on and off the court to net her Sports Illustrateds Sportsperson of the Year. Delle Donnes highly anticipated return to competition has the W community on the edge of their seatsas the star forward has been sidelined for nearly two years now. Jalen Wilson is a forward for the Kansas University Jayhawks mens basketball team, who has an NIL value of $914,000.Wilson has been a star for the Jayhawks, averaging 11.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in his freshman season. And she deserves every bit of it. , heres a breakdown of how much rookies drafted in 2022 made this season: According to Spotrac, Rhyne Howard, NaLyssa Smith, Shakira Austin and Emily Engstler, the top four picks in 2022, all have salaries of $72,141. UFC 285 Fighters Salaries | Jones vs Gane Purse Payouts | How Much Fighters Earn from PPV Money Bonuses? There might not be an NBA at all. Trayce Jackson-Davis is a senior forward for the Indiana Hoosiers, who has an NIL value of $886,000.He was a highly touted prospect out of high school, being named to the McDonalds All-American Team. [3] Another exception, known as the mid-level exception, allows for teams that are over the salary cap to sign one or more players as long as they do not exceed the total amount of the average NBA salary. 1. Speaking about the deal, Breanna said that its bigger than basketball, and that she hopes to have a lasting impact on her younger fans. Surprise! uolas Tubelis is a Lithuanian-born player who currently plays for the Arizona Wildcats as a junior power forward and has an NIL value of $787,000.With 10,500 followers on Instagram, 31,000 on TikTok, and 1,100 on Twitter, he is currently part of the Arizona Assist Club.While he has no NIL deals currently, his growing value will likely ensure that he receives some prominent deals in the future. Zach Edey, a center for the Purdue Boilermakers, is another of the highest-earning college basketball players, with an NIL value of $811,000.Edey, a junior, currently has 28,000 followers on Instagram, 325 on TikTok, and 6,300 on Twitter.Edey currently has NIL deals with Purdue, who have released merchandise with his number and made him a member of the Boilermaker Alliance, but he does not have any other current NIL deals. The average WNBA salary is $128,000 in the 2021 season. Loyd is no doubt, one of the greatest basketball player of all times. The lowest-paid player in the WNBA is Mercurys. According to Spotrac, Jewell Loyd and Arike Ogunbowale are currently set to be the highest-paid WNBA players in the 2023 season, with each of them earning $234,936. We believe that not only are WNBA players underpaid relative to their current league revenue, we also believe that the WNBA as a league could do much, much more to increase its revenue. The minimum salary for an WNBA player with two years of service will rise from $42,728 annually to $57,000 beginning in 2020. Heres why: The WNBA is a 12 team league versus the NBA being a 30 team league. Magic Johnson became the first player to earn $10 million or more in the 94-95 season with a salary of $14,660,000. Jessica Penne vs Tabatha Ricci Purse Payouts | How Much Both Earn from PPV Money at UFC 285? When comparing college leagues, the men draw about 15 times more viewers than the women. Before we get started, lets set some ground rules: We used 2022 salaries to date as the springboard for our rankings. Plus Skylars additional endorsements and her work as a Phoenix Suns broadcasts as analyst, altogether which weve guess-timated to be near $500,000. For the first few years of the leagues history, it was so unpopular that the NBA had to subsidize the operating cost of their female counterpart. In her first season, she was named to the WNBA All-Rookie team. Wilson has signed NIL deals with Legacy Restaurant Group, MiniJerzeys, Charlie Hustle, Rally House, and Family Promise. Be the first one to comment on this story. Not only did she win regular season MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, but her team won the Commissioners Cup and the WNBA Finals. Yahoo! As we dive into the salaries of WNBA players, however, the difference is stark. Where shell make another $100,000 for training in the United States during the WNBA off-season. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Who are the highest-paid NBA players? During her enviable pro career thus far, Brittney has been a 6-time WNBA All-Star. They are Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, and Jewell Loyd. Candace played overseas for 10 seasons, in Russia, Turkey and China. Jewell Loyd - 228,094 dollars. Patrick Ewing became the first player to earn $15 million or more in the 95-96 season with a salary of $18,724,000. Hammon was an assistant coach for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs for eight seasons before making the leap to become a head coach in the WNBA. Thanks to the hard-fought increases in the 2020 CBA (thank you Nneka! Elena. While Jackie Young is the WNBA's highest-paid player right now, she might be forced to relinquish that title soon. The trajectory of our organization changed the day we drafted her 17 years ago, and we are excited she will be here into the future. The deal could be the last of Taurasis career, but we can feel relieved that she is reaping some of the benefits shes worked to sow for the next generation. This means in the NBA, the best paid player makes about six and a half times as much as the average player. Seems like the top spots are dominated by the Connecticut Suns and Seattle Storm huh? No doubt, this WNBA veteran is a superstar. How Much Does A College Basketball Coach Make? Copyright 2017-2023 Rookie Road Inc. All rights reserved. That means that the NBA brings in about 125 times as much revenue as the WNBA. That means the highest paid WNBA players only make about 1.8 times as much as the average WNBA salary. Breanna earns approximately $1.5 million per season overseas reported ESPN. In 2021, they hit the floor with Chicago native Candace Parker, who stands as the second-highest earner on the team at $195,000. Sue has been with Nike since 2003. Who is the highest-paid WNBA player in 2023? Headlines like The Highest WNBA salary is $228,000 while in the NBA its over $45 million are well-intentioned, but disingenuous at best. Liz Cambage also endorsed Wilson basketballs as of 2021. Previously, she played for Shanghai Baoshun Dahua in Chinas WCBA since the 2016-17 season. She scored again by being selected to the 2020 All-WNBA Second Team, adding a bonus of $5,150 to her pay. 2021 WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper sits at the top of the Sky's salary cap, earning $200,000 annually. She signed a two year $463,030 contract last offseason, giving her an annual salary of $231,515. Bates has 501,000 followers across all social media. The NBA was a tiny league that nearly collapsed multiple times. Another option for teams would be to assign players to a league-assigned minimum salary contract for a maximum of two years. 1- Liz Cambage; The Highest Paid WNBA Player Liz Cambage plays in the Las Vegas Aces and is 29 years old. Who are the highest paid WNBA players in 2022? Breanna is also a part of Team USA. Basketball icon Sue Bird, who plays for the Storm in what is her last season before retiring, is making the same amount as thats also the leagues veteran minimum salary. And shes only been in the league seven years! The Liberties young star point guard Sabrina Ionescu is slated to make $76,297 this upcoming season. Stewart is currently having an expensive contract deal with Seattle Storm. She is proficient at getting to her spot and knocking down jumpers at the most crucial moments. Double trouble. Shes also currently a member of Team USA. In 2022, Candace will make $195,000 from her WNBA contract. And she was the WNBA Finals MVP (which probably doesnt get the $15,450 the season MVP gets). That concerted effort bared its fruit, garnering each member of the team $100,000. The mens college basketball tournament is no joke, it is one of the premier sporting events of the year. Who is the highest-paid player in the WNBA? Check out the highest-paid player on each WNBA team for the 2022 campaign below: Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. In 2019, prior to the new CBA, she capped out at $117,500. Shes a 7-time blocks leader, and has won a championship with her team, the Phoenix Mercury. So its no mystery why shes one of the leagues top earners. Some athletes have performed magnificently and managed signing ludicrous contracts. According to. Russell Westbrook, who opted into the final year of his contract for next season, is the highest-paid Laker over both LeBron James and Anthony Davis for next season. Diana struck a deal with BodyArmor, a sports drink, in 2018, which she still endorses today. The highest paid player this season is, you guessed itJewell Loyd. Net Worth: $400,000 WNBA Team: Phoenix Mercury Position: Point Guard Height: 5 ft. 9 in (1.75 m) Weight: 145 lbs. The highest paid WNBA players ever might surprise you. In professional leagues as we stated above that number was 120 times. ), WNBA players are earning more than they ever have and its well-deserved. How much a WNBA rookies makes depends on where she was drafted. This alone should be enough to argue for higher average WNBA salaries than the status quo, but we have two more points still to convince you further. Basketball is also no exception and women players receive much low worthy contracts as compared to men. So its no wonder shes amongst the seven players who top the list in annual salary. In celebration, Mercury GM Jim Pitman emphasized the obvious: [Diana] is the heart of our franchise, the first face on our Mount Rushmore, the best winner and competitor in the womens game. Candaces bread and butter come from her lucrative endorsement deals, which reportedly net her a whopping $3 million dollars! Each had a salary of $228,094 for this season. Some argue that if not for the brilliant rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, the league might not be anywhere near where it was today. This offseason, two of the league's top talents changed teams in free agency. The salary cap, which is regarded as a hard cap, stands at $1,339,000; this amount of money is distributed among 11 or 12 players on each of 12 rosters. 2023 WNBA free agency is here, the regular season is fast approaching, and our staff of writers is working hard to bring you everything you need to know about every team in the league. But if womens college basketball can come close to competing with mens college basketball during tournament time, the WNBA should be able to draw more eyes. The minimum NBA salary is just over $1 million per year while the highest paid WNBA player in the current season is around $230,000. True W fans know that Elena Delle Donne has been one of the top earners in the W for a hot minute, and it's well deserved. Womens sports events have demonstrated their mass-market appeal, and thus monetary potential, on multiple occasionsIn sports where mens and womens games have relatively equal marketing support, their commercial impact has been roughly equivalent. And wed like to see as much of that money as possible go into our players pockets. Picks 9-12 will earn $66,306, while second round picks will receive $63,389 in 2022. She's a sensational player. Thus, looking at average salaries biases the argument in favor of the men! All-star guard Jewell Loyd became the highest paid WNBA player after resigning with the Seattle Storm before last season. In her career, she has played exceptionally well and has generated enough revenue from contracts as well as merchandise sales. She made $1.5 million per season with the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg. 1-4 in the 2022 WNBA Draft, the base salary is expected to be $72,141 in year one. In February 2020, Sue Bird told Howard Megdal, money has really never been the motivator in the WNBA. In equal parts, Bird enlightens the privilege of having a spot in such an incredibly competitive league and points out that the CBAs new salary structure marks a historic turning point for the WNBA. Including being named twice to the All-WNBA First Team and twice to the All-WNBA Second team. So she will now receive $100,000 to train in the United States. Astonishing fact: Despite making our list of the highest paid WNBA players, Skylar has never lined her pockets by playing overseas! The ratio of the highest paid WNBA player to the 144th best paid WNBA player is about 3.8. And before the first games tip off on Friday, Insider took a look at the league's highest-paid players on each team based on Spotrac's salary figures. The Las Vegas Aces big three of Chelsea Gray, A'ja Wilson, and Kelsey Plum all sit somewhere in the top 30 WNBA players salary list, and for good reason. Candace also has a lucrative contract as an NBA analyst for Turner Sports. Diggins was drafted third overall by the Tulsa Shock in the 2013 WNBA draft. Data provided by HighPostHoops.com 2023 Average Rankings Phoenix Mercuryteammates Skylar Diggins-Smithand Brittany Grinerarenot far behind on therichest woman basketballplayers list. Mercury G Diana Taurasi: $228,094 (WNBA max salary) Contract: 2 years, $449,544 Average annual value: $224,772 t-1. The highest-paid WNBA player makes 22.8 percent of what Hammon does. Drew Timme is a star forward for the Gonzaga Bulldogs mens basketball team, who has an NIL value of $912,000.He is in his senior season at Gonzaga, and has had quite the career with the Bulldogs. Shes made our list for all the other money shes raked in beyond being a WNBA rock star. In fact, Deloitte predicts elite womens sport revenues could top almost a billion dollars next year. Opponents to increasing the WNBA player salaries at this point will say you cant just adjust a 12-team league to a 30-team league and assume that the numbers will work themselves out! This is an interesting point but in the next section we argue the exact opposite. The American professional basketball player signed a worthy contract with Phoenix Mercury earning her $224,870 yearly, contributing greatly to her total net worth of $400k. And made her mark immediately overseas by winning the Euroleague MVP award. The lowest-paid player in the WNBA is Mercury's Kaela Davis. And has never come off the bench! The WNBA is a very new league, only having been founded in the late 1990s. The perpetually rebuilding New York Liberty traded for the three-time champ and 2019 DefensivePlayer of the Year Natasha Howard, whom they will reward with $221,000 this year; the Libs also scored 2020 Wubble breakthrough star Betnijah Laney in free agency, and she, in turn, will take home a max salary of $190,550. After Delle Donne went public with her disgust at the situation, the Mystics backtracked and promised to pay her to stay home. Stewart was the first overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft and was named the 2016 WNBA Rookie of the Year. Out of those ten players chosen that year, Kobe Bryant was the only player that was also among the game's ten highest-paid during the 201011 NBA season.[6]. But award money calculations are based off of 2020 results. At the age of 32, Elena is still giving brilliant performance and winning games for her team. Two of Chicagos highest-paid players happen to be married: Courtney Vandersloot ($195,000) and Allie Quigley ($135,000), cheekily known as the Vanderquigs, each signed new deals with the Skyearlier last year. She signed a two year $463,030 contract last offseason, giving her an annual salary of $231,515. The 68 center for the Los Angeles Sparks has been selected to the All-Star team three times. Three franchises will pay their top-earning player less than $200,000 for the upcoming campaign. Enmanuel has deals with major companies such as Adidas, Gatorade, T-Mobile, and Dreamer.He famously appeared in commercials for Gatorade and in a commercial for rapper J. Coles Dreamer collaboration with Puma. As of February, the title of the highest-paid WNBA player belongs to Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces. The groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement unveiled by the WNBPA, WNBA Board of Governors, and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in January 2020 boosted base salaries and continues to provide for extra earning opportunities for WNBA players. And the viewership is increasing rapidly. Candace Parker Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images. Meanwhile, just for reference, tennis phenom Naomi Osaka comes in at $57.3 million according to Forbes. Rookie Road may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Heres to hoping and praying we see her on the court this year. Not surprisingly, Sue Bird made the salary cap of $221,450 in 2021. ONeal has amassed 3.6 million followers on TikTok, and 932,000 followers on Instagram.ONeal most notably has an endorsement with clothing brand boohooMAN and Capital One.ONeal is mostly a rotation player towards the end of the Texas Southern bench. Who Is The Most Famous Athlete In The World Right Now. WNBAstarswho earn the most money are true international superstars who live luxurious lives on and off the court. The highest paid players in the WNBA in 2022 are those with super-maximum contracts. Here's the list of the top 25 highest paid players in the WNBA in 2022: Breanna Stewart: Seattle Storm - $228,094 Diana Taurasi: Phoenix Mercury - $228,094 Jewell Loyd: Seattle Storm - $228,094 Brittney Griner: Phoenix Mercury - $227,900 DeWanna Bonner: Connecticut Sun - $227,900 Elena Delle Donne: Washington Mystics - $227,900 But that doesnt mean that the average WNBA salary should be so low that its employees are compelled to play year round in overseas leagues, often in parts of the world that many Americans would not want to visit themselves. Cynthia Lynne Cooper-Dyke - UB-Barca, CREFF. Duke Blue Devils vs UNC Tar Heels College Basketball Rivalry. She continues to break records both offensively and defensively. In 2020, the leagues, Heres everything you need to know about salaries in the WNBA (all numbers via. Liz medically opted out of the 2020 WNBA season due to the coronavirus pandemic, so she didnt earn any bonus or award money. The lowest-paid player in the WNBA is Mercurys Kaela Davis. Breannas team, the Seattle Storm, won the 2020 WNBA Championship. The WNBA is on the precipice of a sharp inflection point where the total league revenue will explode and the average WNBA salary can finally increase to where it should be.