How much a WNBA rookies makes depends on where she was drafted. Three players will earn a league-high $228,094 on WNBA supermax salaries this season. Also in the top 10 richest contracts in WNBA history are Storm legend Sue Bird and Mercury star Brittney Griner. Why? Michael Jordan was the first NBA player to sign a contract worth over $20 million and in fact it exceeded $30 million as well in a season (1996-97) and (1997-98) where he earned $33,140,000; this was a record he had held for 20 years. Most recently, her impact was big enough on and off the court to net her Sports Illustrateds Sportsperson of the Year. 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. Rookie Road may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Maybe they should play one on one? In 2020, the Women's National Basketball Association came to termson a new collective bargaining agreement that included significant salary bumps. No doubt, this WNBA veteran is a superstar. Absolutely, she said. 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. Shes also currently a member of Team USA. The highest paid WNBA players ever might surprise you. She has 763,000 followers across all platforms, including 673,000 on Instagram.Van Lith has endorsement deals with Adidas, 94 Feet of Game App, Billionaire Girls Club, Dicks Sporting Goods, and The Shaquille ONeal Foundation. In terms of base salaries, three athletes are tied for the highest-paid player in the WNBA: Seattle Storm stars. weve reduced salary costs to buying wins, Top 10: Who is the Best WNBA Player of All Time? Jackie Young of the Aces has an average annual salary of $252,450 and is currently the WNBAs highest-paid player in 2023. In Dianas 17-year career, shes broken WNBA records and has attained a plethora of accolades including being a 3-time WNBA champion. Who is the highest-paid player in the WNBA? Glancing over at the highest-paid players in the NBA reveals that Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry has the richest annual salary at a little north of $48 million. The Liberties young star point guard Sabrina Ionescu is slated to make $76,297 this upcoming season. 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. But award money calculations are based off of 2020 results. An exception is necessary to sign a player for a contract that would exceed the salary cap threshold of the "soft cap". 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. Breannas team, the Seattle Storm, won the 2020 WNBA Championship. 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. Viviane Araujo vs Amanda Ribas Purse Payouts | How Much Both Earn from PPV Money & Bonuses? Plum had a spectacular regular season that even saw her claim the all-star game MVP this year. So its no wonder shes amongst the seven players who top the list in annual salary. Patrick Ewing became the first player to earn $15 million or more in the 95-96 season with a salary of $18,724,000. Mercury G Diana Taurasi: $228,094 (WNBA max salary) Contract: 2 years, $449,544 Average annual value: $224,772 t-1. She has 687,000 followers on TikTok and 382,000 followers on Instagram, commanding one of the biggest social media followings in all of college sports.Mastrov has deals with Neutrogena, Afterpay, and Quizlet. Im with Roc Nation, where Im the only woman signed. 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. While the details of her Roc Nation deal havent been divulged, its Sports President, Juan Perez, says that Skylar has earned far more than if shed played abroad. 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 Skylar Diggins-Smith - $221,450. Hopefully Elena Delle Donne can return to 100% in the near future. In the NBA, the highest paid player this year is Steph Curry, making about $48 million. Earlier, we pointed out that the WNBA is a young league. [The WNBA] doesnt pay my bills playing here doesnt pay my bills We make more money overseas. Marta Vieira da Silva is undoubtedly the highest paid basketball player in the WNBA. UFC 285 Fighters Salaries | Jones vs Gane Purse Payouts | How Much Fighters Earn from PPV Money Bonuses? The lowest-paid player in the WNBA is Mercurys Kaela Davis. - The Data Jocks, Rapid revenue growth and the ratio of revenue to player salary, The ratio of highest paid WNBA players to the average salary. They are Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, and Jewell Loyd. And shes got her own media company Togethxr along with three other star athletes. Shes part of Carmelo Anthonys basketball video lessons program, and she was the first woman on the cover of NBA 2K. Amazingly, in her 13th season, Candace was awarded the coveted 2020 Defensive Player of the Year. She is one of only 11 women to attain all four accolades. There is a significant appetite for professional womens sports. , 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. In recent years, the popularity of the league has been increasing dramatically. She primarily plays in Russia, where she earns anywhere between $400,000 $1.5 million dollars per overseas season. 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. The Washington Mystics have promised her full salary despite the WNBA not awarding her a medical exemption for the season. (66 kg) Skylar Diggins-Smith is a WNBA standout who receives a salary of $221,450, making her one of the four highest-paid WNBA players in the league. Meanwhile, center Griner re-signed with and was cored by Phoenix, and was able to take advantage of the new supermax rules as well. To get to the WNBAlevel,hoopersmust train relentlessly, compete at the highest level, andwin games. 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. Including being named twice to the All-WNBA First Team and twice to the All-WNBA Second team. Elsewhere around the league, star players are enjoying new lucrative contracts. 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 two-time champion is leaving the Seattle Storm after six seasons to play for the New York Liberty. Some of the WNBA's biggest stars are currently free agents in search of new contracts, including Breanna Stewart andCourtney Vandersloot. Headlines like The Highest WNBA salary is $228,000 while in the NBA its over $45 million are well-intentioned, but disingenuous at best. Its big-time, lets just say that, Brittney told USA Today in 2013. Each year there are ten players selected to one of the two All-NBA Teams. In 2017 she was inducted into the Women Basketball Hall of Fame. 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. The Mercury secured a playoff spot but was knocked out during the 2nd round. We have three points and reasons why we think the average WNBA salary and the league revenue as a whole is set to explode. Breanna signed a multi-year deal with Nike in 2016. This is a great book detailing the history of professional Womens basketball. As they say, acandlelosesnothingbylighting another candle. Candace Parker Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images. List of highest paid Major League Baseball players, "Kobe Bryant to Become NBA's Second Ever $30-Million Player", "The NBA's 25 highest-paid players for the 2016-17 season", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Highest-paid_NBA_players_by_season&oldid=1142898961, National Basketball Association statistical leaders, Employee compensation in the United States, Short description with empty Wikidata description, Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 22:55. Shes a American small forward for Washington Mystics in WNBA, joining the team in 2017. 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. In her career, she has played exceptionally well and has generated enough revenue from contracts as well as merchandise sales. And being named to the 2020 All-WNBA Second Team adds another merit bonus to her cap. Under the new agreement, the base salary increased to $130,000. its no wonder why Liz Cambages earnings ar eup there. [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. Do the math (well take an average 2019 salary of WNBA players at nearly $75,000). Get ready for the 2023 WNBA season: Save 23% on your subscription! We arrived at that modest figure by calculating that far more than an average overseas salary of $400,000 equals at least $1 million. Three franchises will pay their top-earning player less than $200,000 for the upcoming campaign. Jessica Penne vs Tabatha Ricci Purse Payouts | How Much Both Earn from PPV Money at UFC 285? Larry Bird was the first player to earn $5 million or more with a salary of $7,070,000 in the 1991-92 season. Outside of Young, other names on the list of the highest-paid WNBA players include Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings, Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury guard Skylar Diggins. Shes a 7-time blocks leader, and has won a championship with her team, the Phoenix Mercury. DeWanna Bonner comes fourth at $227,900. If the leagues popularity continues to increase as it is, the average WNBA salary will follow suit. In February 2020, Bonner was signed and traded to the Connecticut Sun, making her eligible for supermax earnings there. Young was the Aces' first overall pick in 2019 and has been critical for the reigning WNBA champions. That means that the NBA brings in about 125 times as much revenue as the WNBA. She continues to break records both offensively and defensively. Breanna Stewart, a famous American basketball player is the 2nd highest paid WNBA player globally, having net worth of $1.7 million. Obviously, shes worth every penny of her (too small) WNBA income and then some! Although WNBA salaries seem low compared to other athletes, WNBA players typically play basketball year round, spending the WNBA offseason touring Europe and doubling, or sometimes tripling, their salary. A teacher makes approximately $35,000-$55,000 yearly. And the viewership is increasing rapidly. All-star guard Jewell Loyd became the highest paid WNBA player after resigning with the Seattle Storm before the 2021 season. Wilson has signed NIL deals with Legacy Restaurant Group, MiniJerzeys, Charlie Hustle, Rally House, and Family Promise. 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. 1. In order to be fairly compensated, you need to know what to ask for. Ogunbowale's salary for the 2023 campaign is closest to Young's at $241,984. So she now rakes in almost $100,000 more than that. Next on the list of the highest paid WNBA player in the world is DeWanna Bonner. Known for her amazing ability to win championships (she has four WNBA titles under her belt) as well as accolades too numerous to mention (okay, well mention that shes the all-time WNBA assists leader and an 11-time All-Star, to name just two), the superstar point guard has started in 508 games. That is a lot of money , especially compared to what teachers get paid. At the end of the day, salaries have to be related to revenue. He has deals with Dollar Shave Club, Walkers Furniture, Goli Nutrition, and Preediction. That concerted effort bared its fruit, garnering each member of the team $100,000. 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. However, the NBA uses a "soft" salary cap, which means that significant "salary exceptions" allow NBA teams to exceed their allotted amount in order to sign players. The base salary for WNBA rookies varies on when (or if) players were selected in the WNBA Draft. Below are the WNBA players who are paid the highest. 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.