WNBA salaries are significantly less than you might expect for a person playing long-term at the professional level.
Jewell Loyd, Diana Taurasi and Arike Ogunbowale all have a salary cap hit of $234,936.
They're the highest-paid trio in the league.
Meanwhile, the highest-paid player in the NBA is Stephen Curry, who sits with a salary cap hit of a whopping $48.07 million. Yeah. That's roughly 204 times what the three best women's ballers make.
Taurasi, 40, has been part of the league for 19 years with the Phoenix Mercury. She was drafted as the No. 1 overall pick in 2004. She's a three-time champion, one-time league MVP, 10-time All-Star and represented the U.S. in five Olympic games, bringing home five gold medals.
Curry, 35, has been in the league for 14 years with the Golden State Warriors. He was drafted as the No. 7 overall pick in 2009. He's a four-time champion, two-time league MVP, nine-time All-Star and a two-time gold medalist in the FIBA World Cup (2010 for Turkey, 2014 for Spain).
So why, would two people, with arguably equal credentials and skill sets, have such a gap in their earnings? Why aren't these women's basketball players being compensated anywhere near the value of play they're delivering?
The Sporting News laid out how WNBA salaries work in comparison to the NBA.
MORE: Key dates for the 2023 WNBA season
How much do WNBA players make?
The average salary for a player in the WNBA for the 2022 season was $102,751, among 151 athletes, according to NBC Connecticut.
The average salary for a player for the 2023 season, as of April 2, is $147,745, according to Queen Ballers Club.
There are now 21 players making $200,000 or more per year, headlined by Ogunbowale, Taurasi and Loyd, according to Spotrac.
Last year, that number was only 14 and Taurasi and Loyd headlined the chart with Breanna Stewart when she was in Seattle. They were making $228,094.
Stewart's new salary for the 2023 season after signing with the New York Liberty is capped at $175,000, making her the 32nd highest-paid player. A helluva long drop from the top-3.
How much do WNBA rookies make?
It's been said that many women remain in college for a fifth year with their COVID eligibility because they're simply making more off NIL deals than they would be in the league.
For example, South Carolina's Aliyah Boston has an annual NIL valuation of $118,000, according to On3.
If and when she's drafted as the No. 1 overall pick to the Indiana Fever as projected, she'll first have to survive training camp and roster cuts before even considering being paid. And then, if and when she does that, she'll take the court, only to potentially be earning $74,305. A stark contrast from her collegiate funds.
Rookie salaries are not guaranteed, or protected, either by the league's CBA. Her Hoop Stats said this means that players are only paid for the portion of the season they're on the roster. They've also reported that base salaries vary, depending on where each player gets selected in the draft, and the lengths of their contracts are completely non-negotiable. Everything is laid out in fully specified terms for each pick at every draft courtesy of the CBA's governance – the only exception is an undrafted rookie.
Here's what their most recent rookie scale reads:
| Picks | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (team option) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | $74,305 | $75,792 | $83,371 | $94,740 |
| 5-6 | $71,300 | $72,727 | $79,999 | $90,908 |
| 9-12 | $68,295 | $69,663 | $76,630 | $87,080 |
| Second rounder | $65,290 | $66,597 | $73,258 | $83,248 |
| Third rounder | $62,285 | $63,532 | $66,710 | $76,240 |
| Undrafted rookie | $62,285 | $63,532 |
How do WNBA and NBA salaries compare?
The two leagues differ greatly when it comes to revenue, and therefore salaries. In the NBA, players receive half of all revenue. In the WNBA, the players receive half of the league’s incremental revenue according to Just Women's Sports. That means players in the W only share in the revenue earned above the league’s revenue target for that year. The league's target revenue goes up each season.
The NBA brought in a little more than $10 billion in the 2022 season, while the WNBA brought in approximately $60 million. The generation of revenue is the simple reason for the salary disparity between the two leagues in the same sport.
As stated before, 21 players in the WNBA make $200,000 or more and the league's average salary for the upcoming season is $147,745.
Eight players in the NBA make $40 million or more. They also had a salary of $4-9.2 million for first-year rookies drafted as picks one through 10 during the 2022-23 season, according to Real GM.
Top 15 highest-paid WNBA players
Here's a list of the highest-paid WNBA players heading into the 2023 season.
| Rank | WNBA player | Salary | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arike Ogunbowale | $234,936 | Dallas Wings |
| 2 | Diana Taurasi | $234,936 | Phoenix Mercury |
| 3 | Jewell Loyd | $234,936 | Seattle Storm |
| 4 | DeWanna Bonner | $234,350 | Connecticut Sun |
| 5 | Skylar Diggins-Smith | $234,350 | Phoenix Mercury |
| 6 | Elena Delle Donne | $234,350 | Washington Mystics |
| 7 | Natasha Howard | $227,900 | Dallas Wings |
| 8 | Cheyenne Parker | $216,100 | Atlanta Dream |
| 9 | Alyssa Thomas | $212,000 | Connecticut Sun |
| 10 | Jonquel Jones | $211,150 | New York Liberty |
| 11 | Brionna Jones | $208,000 | Connecticut Sun |
| 12 | Kelsey Mitchell | $206,000 | Indiana Fever |
| 13 | Kahleah Copper | $205,000 | Chicago Sky |
| 14 | A'ja Wilson | $202,155 | Las Vegas Aces |
| 15 | Napheesa Collier | $202,154 | Minnesota Lynx |
