Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Kate Martin, Kamilla Cardoso
All eyes are on them. The WNBA salaries are so drastically different from their NBA counterparts, despite having a historic class.
On April 15, 2024, the Women’s National Basketball Association announced their 2024 draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with 36 new promising players for their professional careers. Among them includes Caitlin Clark, the prolific shooting guard from the University of Iowa who set the NCAA all-time scoring mark. Clark has sparked more interest in the sport, even going on Saturday Night Live to take several jab jokes at Michael Che who was critical of women’s sports.
Players like Angel Reese, Karmilla Cardoso, and Cameron Brink have also shined brightly in their own way with their respective college teams. In the meantime, they’ve also been getting many endorsements with the NCAA players taking advantage of Name, Image, and Likeliness (NIL).
When the WNBA contracts were revealed, many people took to react to how small it is in comparison to other jobs. “For somebody who is now the face of women’s basketball, it seemed kind of ridiculous,” Kotb said about Clark’s salary on the Today show the morning after the draft. “I was like, ‘Ah! What’s she gonna get paid?’ Because finally, you can get a real paycheck, and then I saw it, and I was like, ‘This can’t be right.'”
Even Pittsburgh Steelers’ Russell Wilson took to X to complain about the wage gap. “These ladies deserve so much more…Praying for the day 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 l”
So what are the WNBA salaries for the 2024 draft class? Read more to find out.
WNBA Salaries 2024
Caitlyn Clark
Draft Pick: No. 1
Team: Indiana Fever
College: Iowa State University
Contract: $338,056 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $76,535Cameron Brink
Draft Pick: No. 2
Team: Los Angeles Sparks
College: Stanford
Contract: $338,056 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $76,535Karmilla Cardoso
Draft Pick: No. 3
Team: Chicago Sky
College: University of South Carolina
Contract: $338,056 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $76,535Rickea Jackson
Draft Pick: No. 4
Team: Los Angeles Sparks
College: University of Tennessee
Contract: $338,056 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $76,535Jacy Sheldon
Draft Pick: No. 5
Team: Dallas Wings
College: Ohio State University
Contract: $324,383 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $73,439Aaliyah Edwards
Draft Pick: No. 6
Team: Washington Mystics
College: University of Connecticut
Contract: $324,383 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $73,439Angel Reese
Draft Pick: No. 7
Team: Chicago Sky
College: Louisiana State
Contract: $324,383 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $73,439Alissa Pili
Draft Pick: No. 8
Team: Chicago Sky
College: University of Utah
Contract: $324,383 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $73,439Carla Leite
Draft Pick: No. 9
Team: Dallas Wings
Contract: $310,718 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $70,344Leila Lacan
Draft Pick: No. 11
Team: Connecticut Sun
Contract: $310,718 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $70,344Marquesha Davis
Draft Pick: No. 11
Team: New York Liberty
College: Ole Miss: University of Mississippi
Contract: $324,383 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $73,439Nyadiew Puoch
Draft Pick: No. 12
Team: Atlanta Dream
Contract: $310,718 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $70,344Brynna Maxwell
Draft Pick: No. 13
Team: Chicago Wind
College: Gonzaga University
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Nika Mühl
Draft Pick: No. 14
Team: Seattle Storm
College: University of Connecticut
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Celeste Taylor
Draft Pick: No. 15
Team: Indiana Fever
College: Ohio State University
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Dyaisha Fair
Draft Pick: No. 16
Team: Las Vegas Aces
College: Syracuse University
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Esmery Martinez
Draft Pick: No. 17
Team: New York Liberty
College: University of Arizona
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Kate Martin
Draft Pick: No. 18
Team: Las Vegas Aces
College: University of Iowa
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Taiyanna Jackson
Draft Pick: No. 19
Team: Connecticut Sun
College: University of Kansas
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Isabel Borlase
Draft Pick: No. 20
Team: Atlanta Dream
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Kaylynne Truong
Draft Pick: No. 20
Team: Washington Mystics
College: Gonzaga University
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Helena Pueyo
Draft Pick: No. 22
Team: Connecticut Sun
College: University of Arizona
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Jessika Carter
Draft Pick: No. 23
Team: New York Liberty
College: Missouri State University
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Elizabeth Kitley
Draft Pick: No. 24
Team: Las Vegas Aces
College: Virginia Tech
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249Charisma Osbourne
Draft Pick: No. 25
Team: Phoenix Mercury
College: UCLA
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154Mackenzie Holmes
Draft Pick: No. 26
Team: Seattle Mystic
College: University of Indiana
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154Leilani Correa
Draft Pick: No. 27
Team: Indiana Fever
College: University of Florida
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154McKenzie Forbes
Draft Pick: No. 28
Team: Los Angeles Sparks
College: University of Southern California
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154Jaz Shelley
Draft Pick: No. 28
Team: Phoenix Mercury
College: University of Nebraska
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154Nastja Claessens
Draft Pick: No. 30
Team: Washington Mystics
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154Kiki Jefferson
Draft Pick: No. 31
Team: Minnesota Lynx
College: University of Louisville
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154Matilde Villa
Draft Pick: No. 32
Team: Atlantic Dream
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154Ashley Owusu
Draft Pick: No. 33
Team: Dallas Wings
College: Penn State University
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154Abbey Hsu
Draft Pick: No. 34
Team: Connecticut Sun
College: Columbia University
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154Kaitlyn Davis
Draft Pick: No. 35
Team: New York Liberty
College: University of Southern California
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154Angel Jackson
Draft Pick: No. 36
Team: Las Vegas Aces
College: Jackson State University
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154How do WNBA players' contracts compare to NBA players?
WNBA’s draft pick Caitlin Clark’s contract was worth a total of $338,056. In 2023, NBA No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama signed a four-year, US$55.2 million rookie contract with the San Antonio Spurs, with an annual salary of $13,793,692. That makes Caitlin Clark’s contract around 0.55 percent of her male counterpart’s.
The NBA is reportedly worth $10 billion, compared to the WBNA which has been valued at $60 million, so there’s a long way to go towards gender equality.
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