highest paid wnba player

In 2021, her Las Vegas Aces salary was $221,450. Each year there are ten players selected to one of the two All-NBA Teams. Bueckers has endorsement deals with Crocs, Nerf, Bose, Gatorade, and StockX. The current record-holder for most points scored in a WNBA game an astonishing 53 points! Scott Rafferty is a Senior NBA Editor for The Sporting News. 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. If there is any change in the details, we will make the, available here. 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. Candaces bread and butter come from her lucrative endorsement deals, which reportedly net her a whopping $3 million dollars! Hansel Enmanuel is the highest-earning college basketball player with an NIL value of $1.5 million. How much a WNBA rookies makes depends on where she was drafted. The women's basketball players who make the most money are typically the best players in the game. Elena. So given those facts, were going to take a stab at her endorsement income and estimate it to be at least $1.5 million. 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. The WNBA's minimum for a player with zero to two years of experience is $58,710, while vets with three or more years of experience earn a minimum of $70,040. Trayce Jackson-Davis is a senior forward for the Indiana Hoosiers, who has an NIL value of $886,000.He was a highly touted prospect out of high school, being named to the McDonalds All-American Team. But its less clear how our women stack up against each other. The highest paid WNBA players are certainly not paid enough. Net Worth: $400,000 WNBA Team: Phoenix Mercury Position: Point Guard Height: 5 ft. 9 in (1.75 m) Weight: 145 lbs. Patrick Ewing became the first player to earn $15 million or more in the 95-96 season with a . 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. 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. That means the highest paid WNBA players only make about 1.8 times as much as the average WNBA salary. In the NBA, the average salary is about $7.5 million. The mens college basketball tournament is no joke, it is one of the premier sporting events of the year. 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. Who is the highest-paid player in the WNBA? In 2020, the Women's National Basketball Association came to termson a new collective bargaining agreement that included significant salary bumps. Stephen Curry of Golden State Warriors is currently the highest paid NBA player for 2021-22 NBA season, earning around $45.7 million U.S while Lebron James, on the 4th rank earning around $41.1 dollars for 2021-22 NBA season. Loyd is no doubt, one of the greatest basketball player of all times. Do the math (well take an average 2019 salary of WNBA players at nearly $75,000). Jackie Young of the Aces has an average annual salary of $252,450 and is currently the WNBA's highest-paid player in 2023. The problem is that the WNBA needs to gain footing with networks and advertisers. Taurasi was actually the fourth-highest earner on her team last year, and took home nearly 35% less than sixth woman Bria Hartley did. 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. Last season Loyd averaged 17.9 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.4 steals, earning her All-WNBA First team honors. Skylar Kierra Diggins-Smith (born August 2, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). 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. Who is the highest-paid WNBA player in 2023? Plum remains a seminal piece for the Aces, as they regularly look at her to break interior defenders and draw fouls on opposing defenses. When comparing college leagues, the men draw about 15 times more viewers than the women. The 65 point guard is expected to be a future first round NBA Draft pick. Who are therichest womenbasketball players? Each player is making the supermax salary of $228,094. In 2020, she let the league know she was back in business after her achilles injury. weve reduced salary costs to buying wins, Top 10: Who is the Best WNBA Player of All Time? AP Photo/Danny Karnik Los Angeles Sparks . DeWanna Bonner comes fourth at $227,900. The salaries and endorsements deals of DeWanna has contributed greatly to make her net worth touch the $1.5 million mark and making her the 4th highest paid women basketball player. Jewell Loyd - 228,094 dollars. 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. The perpetually rebuilding New York Liberty traded for the three-time champ and 2019 DefensivePlayer of the Year Natasha Howard, whom they will reward with $221,000 this year; the Libs also scored 2020 Wubble breakthrough star Betnijah Laney in free agency, and she, in turn, will take home a max salary of $190,550. The basketball gender pay gap is significant. She was drafted first overall in the 2015 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm. WNBA Salary Rankings Listing the top salaries, cap hits, cash, earnings, contracts, and bonuses, for all active WNBA players. And while agents negotiate on players behalves, knowing your own worth ensures you get more of the type of monetary gain you deserve. Not only that but the maximum salary a WNBA player could earn almost doubled, from $117,500 to $215,000 in 2020, per ESPN. This offseason, two of the league's top talents changed teams in free agency. 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. A multi-year deal means big bucks and a big bet, so lets add in another $1 million for her sponsorship. Now onto the highest paid WNBA players of all time. 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. 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. Who is the highest-paid WNBA player in 2023? Liz also plays for Australian and international teams during the WNBA off-season. Through a sign-and-trade deal between Phoenix and Dallas (for whom she was a designated core player), point guard Diggins-Smith was able to sign a four-year supermax contract with the Mercury in February 2020. 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. It will be interesting to see what the Storm can accomplished with an even larger role carved out for Jewell Loyd. The NBA was a tiny league that nearly collapsed multiple times. Stewart was the first overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft and was named the 2016 WNBA Rookie of the Year. As of February, the title of the highest-paid WNBA player belongs to Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces. To make our point, we need to look at the viewership statistics of a more established womens sports league: womens college basketball. Highest-paid WNBA Players of 2022 by Total Salary Dollar figures via Spotrac based on a 2022 salary cap of $1,379,170. Since then, she is leading a glorious career. 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. WNBA Salary Rankings | Spotrac WNBA Salary Rankings Listing the top salaries, cap hits, cash, earnings, contracts, and bonuses, for all active WNBA players. The base max salary is $190,550. 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. Liz Cambage has played in China, where, way back in 2012, she reportedly netted $297,100 ($400,000 Australian dollars) for her overseas stint. Who are the highest-paid NBA players? So she now rakes in almost $100,000 more than that. To receive email updates when new articles are posted, use the subscription form below! [The WNBA] doesnt pay my bills playing here doesnt pay my bills We make more money overseas. Clocking in roughly $228,094 for the year, Loyd is currently in the midst of bringing the Storm back to the WNBA mountaintop. However, we think the discrepancy is larger than it should be based on viewership and appetite for womens professional sports. Shes made our list for all the other money shes raked in beyond being a WNBA rock star. They are two All-Star-level talents that can turn whatever team they're on into a contender. In fact, Deloitte predicts elite womens sport revenues could top almost a billion dollars next year. Stewart is currently having an expensive contract deal with Seattle Storm. 1. In high school, she was the National Gatorade . Astonishing fact: Despite making our list of the highest paid WNBA players, Skylar has never lined her pockets by playing overseas! The highest paid player this season is, you guessed itJewell Loyd. If not for the remarkably low average WNBA salary, the Ws stars would not be compelled to play in overseas leagues in the offseason. Due to injuries and the pandemic, Delle Donne has only registered three games over the last two seasons. Who is the highest paid WNBA player in the world right now? And being named to the 2020 All-WNBA Second Team adds another merit bonus to her cap. Another 11 players, seven of whom are the highest earners on their respective teams, will command $200,000 or more this year. These seven players will each earn a base supermax salary of $221,450 for the 2021 WNBA season. The Las Vegas Aces big three of Chelsea Gray, A'ja Wilson, and Kelsey Plum all sit somewhere in the top 30 WNBA players salary list, and for good reason. And add that to her bank. Some of the WNBA's biggest stars are currently free agents in search of new contracts, including Breanna Stewart andCourtney Vandersloot. Perhaps more importantly, the WNBA now has bona fide superstars to push its popularity. This means that not only is the average WNBA salary lower than it should be, the top tier female athletes are underpaid! Boxers Who Died In The Ring | How Their Death Impact the Sports? Winner gets $1 to break the tie. Brittney is a powerhouse when it comes to overseas play and shes compensated pretty well for it. The Suns have clear championship expectations and Bonner will have to play at an elite level if they want to win their first chip. The highest paid WNBA players ever might surprise you. Skylar has as a very successful WNBA career playing basketball at the highest level. Next on the list of the highest paid WNBA player in the world is DeWanna Bonner. Picks 9-12 will earn $66,306, while second round picks will receive $63,389 in 2022. Earning a spot on Team USA, shes reaped another $100,000 during the WNBA off-season. While it's still unknown what their new deals will look like, Parker or Stewart could join the ranks of the highest-paid players. Breanna earns approximately $1.5 million per season overseas reported ESPN. 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. In high school, Stewart was the National Gatorade Player of the Year, the Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year, and a McDonald's All-American. 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. Jewell Loyd (born October 5, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Perfumerias Avenida of Spain's Liga Femenina de Baloncesto and the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Who are the highest paid WNBA players in 2022? Speaking engagements net current WNBA players anywhere between $10,000 $50,000, plus Liz is a DJ! For picks 5-8, the rookie base salary drops to $69,224. In 2022, shell make $227,900 from her Phoenix Mercury contract. Im ready to have next summer off and focus on getting a European contract where [its] 10 seasons here worth the pay. In 2019, prior to the new CBA, she capped out at $117,500. In 2021, Delle Donne earned the updated supermax base salary of $221,450. And has never come off the bench! Of course, athletes dont always see all their endorsement earnings in a single year, but weve included the guesstimated total amount for simplification. That means that the NBA brings in about 125 times as much revenue as the WNBA. Mercury G Diana Taurasi: $228,094 (WNBA max salary) Contract: 2 years, $449,544 Average annual value: $224,772 t-1. Elsewhere around the league, star players are enjoying new lucrative contracts. 2021 WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper sits at the top of the Sky's salary cap, earning $200,000 annually. Thats why, for office professionals for example, sites that provide pay transparency like Glassdoor have been so clutch in addressing pay gaps. And throughout her enviable career, shes been named a WNBA All-Star four times. Three franchises will pay their top-earning player less than $200,000 for the upcoming campaign. Loyd was the first overall pick in 2015 after an illustrious career at Notre Dame, going to two national championship games. 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. She is the tallest and highest paid WNBA player. 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). She is currently recovering from a torn ACL. This alone should be enough to argue for higher average WNBA salaries than the status quo, but we have two more points still to convince you further. As detailed by CNBC, the average pay for a WNBA player in the season prior to the new agreement was around $116,000. Shes a American small forward for Washington Mystics in WNBA, joining the team in 2017. Top 10 highest paid players in the WNBA. Yahoo! And before the first games tip off on Friday, Insider took a look at the league's highest-paid players on each team based on Spotrac's salary figures. The WNBA may be following a similar trajectory. An exception is necessary to sign a player for a contract that would exceed the salary cap threshold of the "soft cap". In the NBA, the same ratio is about 4.7. Here are the top. Plus, she was named to the 2020 All-WNBA First team, which added $10,300 in merit bonus cash to her wallet. Some athletes have performed magnificently and managed signing ludicrous contracts. 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. Which added $5,150 to her earnings. Stephen Curry became the first player to eclipse $40 million per year when he signed a record 5-year contract worth $201 million in 2017, starting with $34,682,550 in the 2017-18 season and ending with the largest earnings in the 2021-22 season with a record payout of $45,780,966, If his contract continues Curry is expected to be the first player to eclipse $50 million in the (2023-24) season. Its a bit of a mystery how much money Sue makes for her sponsorship deals. WNBA Highest Paid Players in 2020 DeWanna Bonner (Connecticut Sun) - $215,000. In the NBA world, weve reduced salary costs to buying wins. Her contract salary with the club is $224.870. In terms of base salaries, three athletes are tied for the highest-paid player in the WNBA: Seattle Storm stars. Breanna Stewart, F, Seattle Storm; $228,094 3. Magic Johnson became the first player to earn $10 million or more in the 94-95 season with a salary of $14,660,000. [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 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. She is also signed for next season with UMMC. Ogunbowale's salary for the 2023 campaign is closest to Young's at $241,984. Bates was dismissed from Memphis following legal troubles and now finds himself at Eastern Michigan. The problem is just that the WNBA isnt pushed as well as it could be. Kidding. Amazingly, in her 13th season, Candace was awarded the coveted 2020 Defensive Player of the Year. The two-time champion is leaving the Seattle Storm after six seasons to play for the New York Liberty.