As of February, the title of the highest-paid WNBA player belongs to Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces. Another 11 players, seven of whom are the highest earners on their respective teams, will command $200,000 or more this year. Adding to her wallet, Diana also makes $20,000-$30,000 per speaking engagement. The Mercury made it to the second round of the playoffs in 2020, but lost to the Minnesota Lynx. Mia Mastrov is one of the highest earning college basketball players, with an NIL value of $375,000.Mastrov is a sophomore guard at the University of California. Once that happens, WNBA salaries will reach the place where they should be for the entertainment value they are capable of providing. Diana struck a deal with BodyArmor, a sports drink, in 2018, which she still endorses today. All-star guard Jewell Loyd became the highest paid WNBA player after resigning with the Seattle Storm before last season. How much a WNBA rookies makes depends on where she was drafted. 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. The Mercury secured a playoff spot but was knocked out during the 2nd round. Image credit: (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images). Patrick Ewing became the first player to earn $15 million or more in the 95-96 season with a salary of $18,724,000. Candaces bread and butter come from her lucrative endorsement deals, which reportedly net her a whopping $3 million dollars! Shes a American small forward for Washington Mystics in WNBA, joining the team in 2017. She primarily plays in Russia, where she earns anywhere between $400,000 $1.5 million dollars per overseas season. Here are the complete details about the top 10 highest paid WNBA players in the world along with their salaries and contracts. And I take my off-season and use it to explore other opportunitieslike my basketball camps. And Jay Zs company has boded well for Skylar. Data provided by HighPostHoops.com 2023 Average Rankings Hansel Enmanuel. 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. WNBA Salary Rankings | Spotrac - Sports Contracts, Salaries, Caps 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. Most recently, her impact was big enough on and off the court to net her Sports Illustrateds Sportsperson of the Year. She has been with the Dream since she first entered the league in 2o12 after being selected 14th overall in the draft. The Highest Paid WNBA Players - Gazette Review [5] Finally, the rookie player exception allows any NBA team to sign their first-round draft pick to a contract based upon a scale previously set forth by the NBA. 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. Breannas team, the Seattle Storm, won the 2020 WNBA Championship. Wilson has signed NIL deals with Legacy Restaurant Group, MiniJerzeys, Charlie Hustle, Rally House, and Family Promise. WNBAstarswho earn the most money are true international superstars who live luxurious lives on and off the court. 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. The NBA was a tiny league that nearly collapsed multiple times. Therefore in the last section when we compared the average WNBA salary to the average NBA salary, we were comparing the salaries of the top 144 womens players to the salaries of the top 360 mens players. Now, because the average WNBA player makes 56 times as much as NBA players, the pay gap becomes clearer. In professional leagues as we stated above that number was 120 times. Which added $5,150 to her earnings. In 2021, Delle Donne earned the updated supermax base salary of $221,450. But get this: the average viewership for a womens NCAA tournament game is about 600,000. It isnt a surprise nor is it controversial that mens professional sports draw more attention and revenue and therefore the players are paid more. Hansel Enmanuel is the highest earning college basketball player with an NIL value of $1.5 million. 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. She played for Dallas Wings from the beginning of her career before making a move to Phoenix Mercury in 2020 for which she is currently playing for. WNBA Highest Paid Players in 2021 - Nothing But Nylon 1-4 in the 2022 WNBA Draft, the base salary is expected to be $72,141 in year one. The two-time champion is leaving the Seattle Storm after six seasons to play for the New York Liberty. DeWanna Bonner, Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins-Smith aren't far behind. Elena Delle Donne is making around $224,870 this year from contract salaries. In 2022, the highest paid WNBA players are Breanna Stewart, DeWanna Bonner, Jewell Loyd, Elena Delle Donne, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Brittney Griner, and Diana Taurasi. ), WNBA players are earning more than they ever have and its well-deserved. Some have argued that even with their current paltry salaries, WNBA players are overpaid. Three players, two of whom suit up for the same WNBA team, will earn a league-high $228,094 on supermax salaries for the upcoming season. WNBA stars Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, andJewell Loyd earn the most money in the WNBA, puttingthemamongthe highest paid athletesof all time. She has helped the Storm win two championships, with the most recent coming in the 2020 'wubble'. The Phoenix Mercury boast three supermax playersand yes, one of them, at long last, is Diana Taurasi. Sue is one of the few WNBA stars who have endorsement deals. At TheDataJocks, though, we take a starkly different perspective. 20 Highest Paid WNBA Players 1. Viviane Araujo vs Amanda Ribas Purse Payouts | How Much Both Earn from PPV Money & Bonuses? She is a player, many teams want to have in their books. 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. The NBA salary cap is the maximum dollar amount each NBA team can spend on its players for the season. Essay Why WNBA Should Not Be Paid - 744 Words | Internet Public Library Earning a spot on Team USA, shes reaped another $100,000 during the WNBA off-season. In the afterglow of a hard-fought championship, 2019 WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne re-signed with the Washington Mystics in the 2020 offseason to a well-deserved supermax deal. Who are the highest-paid players in the WNBA in 2023? Earning a second WNBA title and a second WNBA Finals MVP award. For opponents of increased average WNBA salaries, this is the end of the argument. Amari Bailey is one of the highest earning college basketball players, with an NIL value of $520,000.Bailey was a top prospect in the 2022 class. Brittney signed a lucrative endorsement deal with Nike seven years ago in her rookie year. 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 point of this exercise is to counter the myth that we cant afford to pay high salaries to WNBA players because the league just doesnt make any money. Each year there are ten players selected to one of the two All-NBA Teams. 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. In June 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA was no longer allowed to prevent education-related payments to students, which changed college sports forever.This paved the way for NIL deals, which allowed college athletes to profit on their own name, image, and likeness through endorsements and brand deals.A combination of a strong social media following off the court, and good play on the court can result in players receiving millions of dollars in NIL deals per season. The Ace's core remains young and hungry after their first taste of winning, but can they do it again next season? In recent years, the popularity of the league has been increasing dramatically. Skylar Diggins-Smith. Considering Liz was making $117,500 in that year, a quick calculation tells us that her overseas contracts have been close to $1 million dollars a year. She played college basketball at Notre Dame. Young was the Aces' first overall pick in 2019 and has been critical for the reigning WNBA champions. As they say, acandlelosesnothingbylighting another candle. With all these ancillary ways to make money, Dianas WNBA salary is just a drop in the bucket! Stewart was the first overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft and was named the 2016 WNBA Rookie of the Year. Larry Bird was the first player to earn $5 million or more with a salary of $7,070,000 in the 1991-92 season. What are the richest contracts in WNBA history? Full list of highest 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. I'm being paid same as Pistons' Jackson; Liz herself said, in 2018: Ive said this many times. After Delle Donne went public with her disgust at the situation, the Mystics backtracked and promised to pay her to stay home. But currently, she plays in Russia for the UMMC Ekaterinburg team, where she continues to astound on the court. Bailey has 567,000 followers on Instagram, commanding a large social media presence.Bailey is signed to Roc Nation Sports, and so far has just one deal with Ethika. She pulls in almost $1 million per season abroad, which far outweighs her top-dollar WNBA salary. Who is the highest-paid WNBA player in 2023? Shocking salary gap: An NBA mascot earns three times the WNBA's highest Candace also has a lucrative contract as an NBA analyst for Turner Sports. And did we mention that shes also the leagues all-time highest scorer? Borderline unstoppable in this years playoffs, Gray helped the Aces win their first WNBA title en route to her first WNBA Finals MVP. Over in Minnesota, Kayla McBride and Aerial Powersshocking Lynx acquisitions in a whirlwind period of free agencywill each receive max salaries of $190,550, out-earning new teammate and former MVP Sylvia Fowles ($117,894). 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. While these might not necessarily be the exact total pay figures for players, we did the best we could directionally. If you buy something from a link on our site, Queen Ballers Club may earn a commission. And throughout her enviable career, shes been named a WNBA All-Star four times. 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. And to top it off, shes earned four Olympic gold medals which makes it easy to say that, as a basketball player, shes earned her weight in gold. Im ready to have next summer off and focus on getting a European contract where [its] 10 seasons here worth the pay. 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. Shes also won a championship with the Los Angeles Sparks, for whom she was the first-round pick in 2008. And she deserves every bit of it. Each had a salary of $228,094 for this season. Subscribe to get the latest articles first. Three franchises will pay their top-earning player less than $200,000 for the upcoming campaign. [The WNBA] doesnt pay my bills playing here doesnt pay my bills We make more money overseas. The women's basketball players who make the most money are typically the best players in the game. Three franchises the Dallas Wings, Los Angeles Sparks, and Las Vegas Aces do not have a single player taking home $200,000 or more this season. What is the league average of salaries in the WNBA? She continues to break records both offensively and defensively. The Larry Bird exception, more commonly known as Bird Rights, allows teams to re-sign a current player only if he has played for that particular team for a minimum of three years. We may earn some commission if you were to buy something via our affiliate links, Top 10 Most Selling Football Boots In The World | Nike Mercurial Vapor Tops The List As Used By Ronaldo, Mbappe & Neymar, Top 10 Most Expensive Injuries In Football, The Best Apps/Websites to Watch MF & DAZN X Series 005 Live Online | 5 March 2023, The Best Apps/Websites To Watch Jay Swingler vs Nicholai Perrett Live Online | 5 March 2023. During her enviable pro career thus far, Brittney has been a 6-time WNBA All-Star. [1] LeBron James became the third in the 201617 season. In the past, shes had contracts with Puma and BodyArmor. And shes got her own media company Togethxr along with three other star athletes. Due to injuries and other factors, Sue hasnt played overseas since 2014. With new coaches, a stacked rookie class, and an abundance of superstars across the league's 12 teams, the WNBA's 26th season is poised to be one of the most exciting yet. So she will now receive close to $100,000 to train for United States. Breanna Stewart, F, Seattle Storm; $228,094 3. Copyright 2017-2023 Rookie Road Inc. All rights reserved. Shaqir ONeal is one of the highest earning college basketball players with an NIL value of $1.1 million.Son of legendary NBA center, Shaquille ONeal, Shaqir is a freshman at Texas Southern University. Double trouble. Our overall argument is not only that today, right now WNBA players should be paid more. The highest paid WNBA player this year is a tie between Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, and Jewell Lloyd each making just over $228,000 this year. Who are the highest paid WNBA players for 2021 - SportsMania Who is the highest paid WNBA player in the world right now? Enmanuel famously has commercials with both Gatorade, and J. Coles Puma collaboration named Dreamer.. So its no mystery why shes one of the leagues top earners. It isnt the WNBAs fault necessarily; networks are wary of showing and advertising for games they think will be less profitable. Last season Loyd averaged 17.9 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.4 steals, earning her All-WNBA First team honors. There is a significant appetite for professional womens sports. The league minimum salary is now $58,710. To supplement her WNBA income, Sue has played overseas during the WNBA off-season for much of her storied career. By looking at viewership for womens college basketball, we argue that the revenue gap between the WNBA and the NBA can be closed. Max and supermax players now receive annual 3 percent salary bumps, and by 2027, the salary cap will have grown incrementally by nearly $300,000. Who is the highest-paid player in the WNBA? Deals can't be officially signed until Feb. 1. Its a bit of a mystery how much money Sue makes for her sponsorship deals. Astonishing fact: Despite making our list of the highest paid WNBA players, Skylar has never lined her pockets by playing overseas! In order to be fairly compensated, you need to know what to ask for. In the NBA, the highest paid player this year is Steph Curry, making about $48 million. The 27-year-old has the 151st-ranked salary in the league at $1,607. Overall, the average annual salaries in the NBA are much higher than in the WNBA. While Jackie Young is the WNBA's highest-paid player right now, she might be forced to relinquish that title soon. The lowest-paid player in the WNBA is Mercury's Kaela Davis. From my perspective, the gender pay gap in basketball is attributable to the WNBA being a new league and not achieving the viewership it is capable of. Would you be willing to send a $5 tip to our Venmo tip jar because it helps support this site and our reporting? In the NBA world, weve reduced salary costs to buying wins. The highest-paid WNBA players on every team - Yahoo! But she recently signed deals with life insurance company Symetra (along with her life partner, Megan Rapinoe). The highest-paid WNBA player makes 22.8 percent of what Hammon does. Highest-paid NBA players by season - Wikipedia According to 201011 NBA season game performance, the league's best players were not its highest-paid players. So she will now receive $100,000 to train in the United States. 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. The base max salary is $190,550. Breanna Stewart - 228.094 dollars. In his junior season at Indiana, Wilson was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team and the Second-Team All-Big Ten Team. WNBA salaries: Who has the highest, league average, more Highest-paid WNBA Players of 2022 - Boardroom Given those achievements, it makes perfect sense that Skylar is paid top-dollar. Not only that but the maximum salary a WNBA player could earn almost doubled, from $117,500 to $215,000 in 2020, per ESPN. The highest player topping our list in total earnings ever is Candace Parker whos at $5.7 million per year. However, some still manage to make 6 figures for their incredible performances. Brittney is a powerhouse when it comes to overseas play and shes compensated pretty well for it. Before we get started, lets set some ground rules: We used 2022 salaries to date as the springboard for our rankings. An exception is necessary to sign a player for a contract that would exceed the salary cap threshold of the "soft cap". Richest Female Basketball Players and Their Net WorthRichest Female WNBA PlayersCandace Parker Sue Bird Breanna Stewart Lisa LeslieElena Delle Donne Kelsey P. In 2017 she was inducted into the Women Basketball Hall of Fame. Loyd is pocketing the contract salary of $231,515 whereas the endorsements have increased the net worth up to $2.1 million. 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. 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. WNBA salaries 2022: Who is the highest paid WNBA player? What do WNBA Basketball is also no exception and women players receive much low worthy contracts as compared to men. 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. So helping everyone win higher paid overseas contracts and endorsements is actually lucrative for everyone in the long run. Magic Johnson became the first player to earn $10 million or more in the 94-95 season with a salary of $14,660,000. 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. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider The WNBA may be following a similar trajectory. To that point, Taurasis most recent contract was negotiated under the previous CBA, leaving her criminally underpaid. She was drafted first overall in the 2015 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm. The 25 Highest Paid WNBA Players Of 2022 - Ranker Diggins was drafted third overall by the Tulsa Shock in the 2013 WNBA draft. 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. Locked on WBB: Evaluating Celeste Taylor, Grace Berger The highest paid WNBA player in 2022 is every hooper making the $228,094 supermax which includes Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, and Jewell Loyd. While it's still unknown what their new deals will look like, Parker or Stewart could join the ranks of the highest-paid players.