Tuesday, Feb. 1 officially tipped off WNBA Free Agency and there were reports sharing the salary of new Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon.
Per reports, the former WNBA star is set to earn upwards of $1 million per year.
Hammon's pay is not only a hike over her salary as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, but more importantly, it makes her the highest-paid coach in the WNBA.
While this might indicate progress, it also puts a spotlight on the WNBA's player salaries which are determined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the league and WNBPA.
NBA LEAGUE PASS: Sign up to unlock live out-of-market games (7-day free trial)
Liz Cambage furious over WNBA's player-coach disparity
Cambage, a 30-year-old Australian who has played her last two seasons with the Aces, called out the difference in pay between Hammon's pay and the amount that players rope as in as part of the league's supermax deal.
She shared her displeasure on Twitter:
ahhh yes the @WNBA, where a head coach can get paid 4X the highest paid players super max contract. lmao and y’all think imma spend another season upgrading my seat on a flight to get to games out of my own pocket.
— Elizabeth Cambage (@ecambage) February 1, 2022
A free agent in 2022, it would be fair to say that Cambage will not be returning to the Aces, who were reportedly not intending to bring her back, anyway. Per reports, Cambage is in talks with the Los Angeles Sparks.
WNBA's pay breakdown: Team salary cap, supermax details
It's not surprising to see Cambage voice her annoyance with pay disparity.
Hammon's reported seven-figure salary is not only four times what a WNBA player on a supermax contract can earn, but it is also nearly as much as an entire team's salary cap. For the upcoming 2022 WNBA season, the league's salary cap is set at $1,379,200.
MORE: WNBA star Breanna Stewart signs one-year supermax deal to stay in Seattle
Imagine any coach in the NBA earning nearly just as much as the team's salary cap? For the 2021-22 NBA season, Spurs' Gregg Popovich is reportedly the highest-paid coach and his reported salary is nearly 10% of the team's salary cap for the season.
For specifics, players on the WNBA's supermax contract can earn $228,094 for the season.
