And she deserves every bit of it. In 2021, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Elena Delle Donne, Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins-Smith, DeWanna Bonner, and Liz Cambage were the highest paid WBNA players. Who is the highest-paid WNBA player in 2023? In 2022, shell make $227,900 from her Phoenix Mercury contract. Obviously, shes worth every penny of her (too small) WNBA income and then some! The highest paid WNBA players ever might surprise you. The league minimum salary is now $58,710. Our overall argument is not only that today, right now WNBA players should be paid more. New Mexico State Basketball Team Bio And Facts, Saint Peters Basketball Team Bio And Facts, Syracuse Orange vs Duke Blue Devils Basketball Rivalry, Syracuse Orange vs Georgetown Hoyas College Basketball Rivalry, Top 10 Best Kentucky College Basketball Players, Top 10 Best North Carolina Basketball Players, Top 10 College Basketball Rivalries of All Time, Top 10 Highest Paid College Basketball Coaches, Top 10 Highest Paid College Basketball Players, Top 6 Best Men's College Basketball Coaches of All Time, Top 6 Best Men's College Basketball Programs of All Time, Top 6 Best Women's College Basketball Coaches of All Time, Top 6 Best Women's College Basketball Teams of All Time. Since Sues team, the Seattle Storm, won the 2020 WNBA Championship, each player pockets an additional $11,536 for that feat. For the 2021-2022 NBA season, the NBA's rookie minimum sat at $925,000 just about four times the average annual salary of the WNBA's highest-paid player. She was named the WNBA MVP in 2018 and was named. Top 25 Highest Paid WNBA Players in 2022 & Ever, Breanna Stewart: Seattle Storm $228,094, Diana Taurasi: Phoenix Mercury $228,094, Brittney Griner: Phoenix Mercury $227,900, DeWanna Bonner: Connecticut Sun $227,900, Elena Delle Donne: Washington Mystics $227,900, Skylar Diggins-Smith: Phoenix Mercury $227,900, Natasha Howard: New York Liberty $221,450, Alyssa Thomas: Connecticut Sun $206,000, Jonquel Jones: Connecticut Sun $205,000, Kelsey Mitchell: Indiana Fever $200,000, Betnijah Laney: New York Liberty $196,267, Nneka Ogwumike: Los Angeles Sparks $196,267, Kristi Toliver: Los Angeles Sparks $196,100, Courtney Vandersloot: Chicago Sky $195,000, Cheyenne Parker: Atlanta Dream $190,550. And she was the WNBA Finals MVP (which probably doesnt get the $15,450 the season MVP gets). Women National Basketball Association is the top tier league which gave a new turn to basketball world by providing opportunity to female athletes to show their talent. Jackie Young of the Aces has an average annual salary of $252,450 and is currently the WNBAs highest-paid player in 2023. 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. She has helped the Storm win two championships, with the most recent coming in the 2020 'wubble'. For the first few years of the league's history, it was so unpopular that the NBA had to subsidize the operating cost of their female counterpart. Given those achievements, it makes perfect sense that Skylar is paid top-dollar. t-1. 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. We all know theres a gargantuan salary gap between NBA and WNBA team players. 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. The Washington Mystics have promised her full salary despite the WNBA not awarding her a medical exemption for the season. Im ready to have next summer off and focus on getting a European contract where [its] 10 seasons here worth the pay. She scored again by being selected to the 2020 All-WNBA Second Team, adding a bonus of $5,150 to her pay. Elena Delle Donne is making around $224,870 this year from contract salaries. Shes part of Carmelo Anthonys basketball video lessons program, and she was the first woman on the cover of NBA 2K. 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). Highest-paid WNBA Players of 2022 by Total Salary Dollar figures via Spotrac based on a 2022 salary cap of $1,379,170. Here is Spotrac.com's top 10 list of highest-paid WNBA players by average annual value. Young is set to make $252,450 this season.. 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. 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. Below are the WNBA players who are paid the highest. These seven players will each earn a base supermax salary of $221,450 for the 2021 WNBA season. This is a great book detailing the history of professional Womens basketball. Essay Why WNBA Should Not Be Paid - 744 Words | Internet Public Library Subscribe to get the latest articles first. A'ja Wilson has a long and illustrious career ahead of her. She is holding the most ludicrous contract deal with WNBAs club. She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. According to Spotrac, DeWanna Bonner, Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins-Smith, each signed the richest contract in WNBA history in 2020, worth $899,480 over four years. The problem is just that the WNBA isnt pushed as well as it could be. Now, because the average WNBA player makes 56 times as much as NBA players, the pay gap becomes clearer. Adding to her wallet, Diana also makes $20,000-$30,000 per speaking engagement. 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. Each player is making the supermax salary of $228,094. Highest Paid WNBA Players 5 - Skylar Diggins Smith 4 - DeWanna Bonner 3 - Elena Delle Donne 2 - Breanna Stewart 1 - Jewell Loyd Top 10 Highest Paid WNBA Players Women National Basketball Association is the top tier league which gave a new turn to basketball world by providing opportunity to female athletes to show their talent. In 2020, she let the league know she was back in business after her achilles injury. And made her mark immediately overseas by winning the Euroleague MVP award. When comparing college leagues, the men draw about 15 times more viewers than the women. In Dallas, guard Allisha Gray ($164,800) will be the top earner on a youthful Wings team set to be held down by its burgeoning superstarsArike Ogunbowale ($72,141) and Satou Sabally ($76,297) will have to wait until at least 2023 for the substantial pay rises they deserve. No matter what is the sport, there is always a pay gap between the mens and womens event. And the viewership is increasing rapidly. WNBA stars Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, and Jewell Loyd earn the most money in the WNBA, putting them among the highest paid athletes of all time. In professional leagues as we stated above that number was 120 times. Duke Blue Devils vs UNC Tar Heels College Basketball Rivalry. Who are the highest-paid players in the WNBA in 2023? All-star guard Jewell Loyd became the highest paid WNBA player after resigning with the Seattle Storm before last season. Highest-paid active WNBA players. She signed a two year $463,030 contract last offseason, giving her an annual salary of $231,515. Larry Bird was the first player to earn $5 million or more with a salary of $7,070,000 in the 1991-92 season. 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. 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. She is playing as Shooting guard for Seattle Storm. While Jackie Young is the WNBA's highest-paid player right now, she might be forced to relinquish that title soon. 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. Breannas team, the Seattle Storm, won the 2020 WNBA Championship. Some have argued that even with their current paltry salaries, WNBA players are overpaid. Kidding. Earlier, we pointed out that the WNBA is a young league. In recent years, the popularity of the league has been increasing dramatically. 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. AP Photo/Ashley Landis Las Vegas Aces A'ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray ($196,267) A'ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray. 1. Up next, check out the rest of our WNBA salary series, with the lowest paid WNBA players. She started playing in China in her rookie season. Timme is a two-time Second-Team All-American, a two-time First-Team All-WCC selection, and the 2022 WCC Player of the Year. 1. However, we think the discrepancy is larger than it should be based on viewership and appetite for womens professional sports. As are the Washington Mystics small forwardElena Delle Donne and Connecticut Sun guardDeWanna Bonner. 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. 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. Get ready for the 2023 WNBA season: Save 23% on your subscription! According to Her Hoop Stats, 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. She also has 4.2 million TikTok followers, making her one of the most followed collegiate athletes in the United States.Haley, like her sister, has endorsement deals with Under Armour, Raising Canes, Intuit TurboTax, and Victoria's Secret PINK. 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. Most recently, her impact was big enough on and off the court to net her Sports Illustrateds Sportsperson of the Year. In this list we examine the top 10 highest paid college basketball players as of February 2023. She pulls in almost $1 million per season abroad, which far outweighs her top-dollar WNBA salary. How much do WNBA players make? Top 10 salaries, max contracts, rookie However, some still manage to make 6 figures for their incredible performances. Candace Parker is the first big name to join a new team in free agency. In the NBA, the same ratio is about 4.7. And thus still earned her $1.5 million salary! And being named to the 2020 All-WNBA Second Team adds another merit bonus to her cap. Who is the highest paid WNBA player? Jewell Loyd leads top 10 list If not for the remarkably low average WNBA salary, the Ws stars would not be compelled to play in overseas leagues in the offseason. We have three points and reasons why we think the average WNBA salary and the league revenue as a whole is set to explode. 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. And has never come off the bench! In 2021, she signed a new contract with the Vegas Aces on a one-year agreement of $221,450. But first, lets jump into the basics for this year. She continues to break records both offensively and defensively. She is also signed for next season with UMMC. Check out all the highest paid WNBA players below, and come back when new WNBA starssign newcontracts to see how their salaries stack up! Richest Female Basketball Players and Their Net WorthRichest Female WNBA PlayersCandace Parker Sue Bird Breanna Stewart Lisa LeslieElena Delle Donne Kelsey P. After spending the past two years in her hometown of Chicago, the two-time MVP decided to sign with the reigning champs in Las Vegas. If you adjust the WNBA revenue in this way, then the NBAs revenue is only 50 times the WNBAs revenue on a per team basis. Candace Parker Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images. During her enviable pro career thus far, Brittney has been a 6-time WNBA All-Star. There is a significant appetite for professional womens sports. Check out the highest-paid player on each WNBA team for the 2022 campaign below: Dallas Wings Moriah Jefferson ($180,200) Moriah Jefferson. Putting $5,150 in Skylars pocket. 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. Who is the richest WNBA player? - Celebrity.fm - #1 Official Stars The WNBA may be following a similar trajectory. 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. Shes also currently a member of Team USA. Stay tuned for more information! She recently starred in some CarMax commercials. However, we expect WNBA viewership to increase rapidly in the near future. Bueckers has endorsement deals with Crocs, Nerf, Bose, Gatorade, and StockX. She has 1.2 million followers across all platforms.Johnson has endorsement deals with HighlightHER, Puma, Meta, Taco Bell, and POWERHANDZ.Johnson is also a rapper who announced her commitment to LSU in her own song. The Highest Paid WNBA Players Of 2023 - ranker.com WNBA Highest Paid Players in 2021 Sue Bird (Seattle Storm) - $221,450 Sue Bird is one of the most recognizable names in basketball and a WNBA staple for nearly two decades. 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. She has 1 million followers on Instagram, 465,000 on TikTok, and 77,000 on Twitter.She is expected to be a top pick in the WNBA Draft, whenever she declares. Here are the top 10: 1 . WNBA Highest Paid Players in 2020 - Nothing But Nylon WWE Wrestlers Who Served In Military | How It Impact Their Careers In Wrestling? often in parts of the world that many Americans would not want to visit themselves. As detailed by CNBC, the average pay for a WNBA player in the season prior to the new agreement was around $116,000. For picks No. But we can assume its a good amount. It will be interesting to see what the Storm can accomplished with an even larger role carved out for Jewell Loyd. Paige Bueckers is one of the highest earning college basketball players, with an NIL value of $822,000.Bueckers, a junior, is a star guard at the University of Connecticut. Beginning in the 198485 NBA season, the NBA's first salary cap was introduced. Skylar Diggins . A recent New York Times article talks about how Paige Bueckers is waiting to go pro because there is more money in college basketball than in womens professional basketball. 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. If you buy something from a link on our site, Queen Ballers Club may earn a commission. He has deals with Dollar Shave Club, Walkers Furniture, Goli Nutrition, and Preediction. At the age of 32, Elena is still giving brilliant performance and winning games for her team. Not surprisingly, Sue Bird made the salary cap of $221,450 in 2021. 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. Because the WNBA is a smaller league, the 144 players on active WNBA rosters are the best 144 womens basketball players. Not only that but the maximum salary a WNBA player could earn almost doubled, from $117,500 to $215,000 in 2020, per ESPN. I'm being paid same as Pistons' Jackson; How much do WNBA players make? Top 10 salaries, max contracts, rookie And they might feel threatened to share their salary information with peers who they feel they are competing for dollars with. Phoenix Mercuryteammates Skylar Diggins-Smithand Brittany Grinerarenot far behind on therichest woman basketballplayers list. Shes a 7-time blocks leader, and has won a championship with her team, the Phoenix Mercury. Data provided by HighPostHoops.com 2023 Average Rankings 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. And shes only been in the league seven years! The highest paid player this season is, you guessed itJewell Loyd. As of now, the details of her contract have not been announced. 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. The lowest-paid player in the WNBA is Mercurys. Salaries will continue to rise in the years to come, as the WNBA's salary cap will increase by three percent annually. Shocking salary gap: An NBA mascot earns three times the WNBA's highest The highest paid WNBA player in 2022 is every hooper making the $228,094 supermax which includes Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, and Jewell Loyd. Elsewhere around the league, star players are enjoying new lucrative contracts. To supplement her WNBA income, Sue has played overseas during the WNBA off-season for much of her storied career. All-star guard Jewell Loyd became the highest paid WNBA player after resigning with the Seattle Storm before the 2021 season. Loyd was the first overall pick in 2015 after an illustrious career at Notre Dame, going to two national championship games. In her career, she has played exceptionally well and has generated enough revenue from contracts as well as merchandise sales. Sue is one of the few WNBA stars who have endorsement deals. Why Do College Basketball Teams Cut Down The Net? According to. Breanna Stewart has signed with UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia for 2020, and will return to EuroLeague play this season. Heres to hoping and praying we see her on the court this year. A Quick History of WNBA Profitability. [4] Next, the bi-annual exception can be used by teams every other year to sign a free agent(s) for up to two years at an amount set by the NBA. While Diana no longer plays overseas, her career there was an extremely lucrative one. 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. No doubt, this WNBA veteran is a superstar. Hanna Cavinder is the highest earning womens NCAA basketball player, with an NIL value of $846,000.Cavinder is a senior point guard at the University of Miami.She has amassed 4.7 million followers across all social media, making her the most followed college basketball athlete.Her 4.2 million TikTok followers makes her one of the most popular college athletes in the United States. The current record-holder for most points scored in a WNBA game an astonishing 53 points! The 27-year-old has the 151st-ranked salary in the league at $1,607. Copyright 2017-2023 Rookie Road Inc. All rights reserved. She is a player, many teams want to have in their books. In terms of base salaries, three athletes are tied for the highest-paid player in the WNBA: Seattle Storm stars. A 12 team league cant possibly bring in the same revenue as a 30-team league. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. DeWanna Bonner, Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins-Smith aren't far behind. [1] LeBron James became the third in the 201617 season. Due to injuries and other factors, Sue hasnt played overseas since 2014. Elena. Maybe they should play one on one? The Phoenix Mercury boast three supermax playersand yes, one of them, at long last, is Diana Taurasi. Here are the complete details about the top 10 highest paid WNBA players in the world along with their salaries and contracts. The minimum salary for an WNBA player with two years of service will rise from $42,728 annually to $57,000 beginning in 2020. Image credit: (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images). What is the league average of salaries in the WNBA? Basically, knowledge is power! Who is the highest paid WNBA player in the world right now? Thanks to the hard-fought increases in the 2020 CBA (thank you Nneka! Ranking the top 25 WNBA players for 2021 - ESPN.com weve reduced salary costs to buying wins, Top 10: Who is the Best WNBA Player of All Time? 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. 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. With the 2022 WNBA season tipping off Friday, we took a look at the league's highest-paid players. The highest paid players in the WNBA in 2022 are those with super-maximum contracts. Next on the list of the highest paid WNBA player in the world is DeWanna Bonner. With the 2021 WNBA season tipping off Friday, we took a look at the league's highest-paid players. And shes got her own media company Togethxr along with three other star athletes. Do the math (well take an average 2019 salary of WNBA players at nearly $75,000). Haley Cavinder is one of the highest earning college basketball players with an NIL value of $842,000.Just like her twin sister Hanna, Haley is a senior point guard at the University of Miami. Where shell make another $100,000 for training in the United States during the WNBA off-season. Who are the highest-paid NBA players? Its big-time, lets just say that, Brittney told USA Today in 2013. The lowest paid player for the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2020-21 NBA season is Daniel Oturu who will be paid a guaranteed $898,310. This will lead to an increase in the average WNBA salary. Like, Im a millionaire because of it. So we can average out the 11 seasons she did play in Russia at a modest $1,000,000. 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. All these are the details about the top 10 highest paid WNBA players along with their contract salary and net worth. Plus, she was named to the 2020 All-WNBA First team, which added $10,300 in merit bonus cash to her wallet. Your login session has expired. Hansel Enmanuel is the highest earning college basketball player with an NIL value of $1.5 million. In Dianas 17-year career, shes broken WNBA records and has attained a plethora of accolades including being a 3-time WNBA champion. Picks 9-12 will earn $66,306, while second round picks will receive $63,389 in 2022. Another big name to move in free agency was Breanna Stewart. The lowest-paid player in the WNBA is Mercury's Kaela Davis. 1-4 in the 2022 WNBA Draft, the base salary is expected to be $72,141 in year one. Winner gets $1 to break the tie. Seven players from five different teams will earn the WNBA supermax salary of. No matter how you slice it, the pay gap in the WNBA versus the NBA is remarkable. 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. 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. [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. In 2021, her Las Vegas Aces salary was $221,450. A multi-year deal means big bucks and a big bet, so lets add in another $1 million for her sponsorship. In this article well list a few reasons and statistics why we think the average WNBA salary is lower than it should be. The average mens tournament game averaged 10.7 million viewers per game. Who Are the Highest-Paid College Basketball Players Right Now.