Putting $5,150 in Skylars pocket. Diana Taurasi, now 38, signed a two-year supermax deal on February 1, 2021. Its a bit of a mystery how much money Sue makes for her sponsorship deals. WWE Wrestlers Who Served In Military | How It Impact Their Careers In Wrestling? WNBA teams can talk to free agents starting on Jan. 21. In 2020, she let the league know she was back in business after her achilles injury. The Phoenix Mercury point guard also earned the title of having the most All-WNBA First Team honors a total of 10! So she pockets an additional $11,536 for that feat. Tiffany Hayes ($215,000) is the highest-paid player for the Atlanta Dream for the second consecutive year. The 24-year-old guard made her first All-Star team last year after averaging 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists. 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. Hansel Enmanuel. In 2020, the Women's National Basketball Association came to termson a new collective bargaining agreement that included significant salary bumps. Loyd is no doubt, one of the greatest basketball player of all times. And its easy to see that theres a good chance Candace made close to $1.5 million dollars during her overseas reign. A multi-year deal means big bucks and a big bet, so lets add in another $1 million for her sponsorship. In February 2020, Sue Bird told Howard Megdal, money has really never been the motivator in the WNBA. In equal parts, Bird enlightens the privilege of having a spot in such an incredibly competitive league and points out that the CBAs new salary structure marks a historic turning point for the WNBA. The WNBA is a very new league, only having been founded in the late 1990s. She is currently recovering from a torn ACL. It isnt the WNBAs fault necessarily; networks are wary of showing and advertising for games they think will be less profitable. But the reality is, the more brands that pump money into womens sports, the more the sport is going to thrive. In her career, she has played exceptionally well and has generated enough revenue from contracts as well as merchandise sales. Also in the top 10 richest contracts in WNBA history are Storm legend Sue Bird and Mercury star Brittney Griner. There is a significant appetite for professional womens sports. And we added in prior overseas play. She was also the first openly gay athlete to sign with the company, which garnered her a lot of attention. In 2020, the leagues latest collective bargaining agreement bumped the maximum salary for the highest-paid players from $117,500 to $215,000. So its no wonder shes amongst the seven players who top the list in annual salary. 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. Because after the NBAs Kyrie Irving saw her wearing his shoes, he told Nike, Okay, yeah, give her whatever she wants. So, well factor in another $2,000,000 into her income for good measure! 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. She has helped the Storm win two championships, with the most recent coming in the 2020 'wubble'. 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. Earning a second WNBA title and a second WNBA Finals MVP award. Skylar Diggins-Smith - $221,450. The groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement unveiled by the WNBPA, WNBA Board of Governors, and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in January 2020 boosted base salaries and continues to provide for extra earning opportunities for WNBA players. But its less clear how our women stack up against each other. We believe that not only are WNBA players underpaid relative to their current league revenue, we also believe that the WNBA as a league could do much, much more to increase its revenue. When comparing college leagues, the men draw about 15 times more viewers than the women. As a five star recruit Bailey chose UCLA over a multitude of other schools. Diggins was drafted third overall by the Tulsa Shock in the 2013 WNBA draft. Eight players . 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. Why? Another big name to move in free agency was Breanna Stewart. Where shell make another $100,000 for training in the United States during the WNBA off-season. Elena Delle Donne is making around $224,870 this year from contract salaries. The women's basketball players who make the most money are typically the best players in the game. While these might not necessarily be the exact total pay figures for players, we did the best we could directionally. WNBA stars also earn lucrative endorsement deals worth millions per year off the court. All-star guard Jewell Loyd became the highest paid WNBA player after resigning with the Seattle Storm before last season. Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd and Seattle forward Breanna Stewart are the highest-paid players in the WNBA,. 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. And Diana and Sue Bird were instrumental in seeing to it that members of Team USA were paid decent wages for their training. Sue has been with Nike since 2003. She primarily plays in Russia, where she earns anywhere between $400,000 $1.5 million dollars per overseas season. 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. Data provided by HighPostHoops.com 2023 Average Rankings 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. Basketball is also no exception and women players receive much low worthy contracts as compared to men. Hammon was an assistant coach for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs for eight seasons before making the leap to become a head coach in the WNBA. Breanna is also a part of Team USA. Who is the highest-paid WNBA player? Not surprisingly, Sue Bird made the salary cap of $221,450 in 2021. Skylar Diggins-Smith. [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. 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. 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. Plus, she was named to the 2020 All-WNBA First team, which added $10,300 in merit bonus cash to her wallet. 2023 WNBA free agency is here, the regular season is fast approaching, and our staff of writers is working hard to bring you everything you need to know about every team in the league. Three players will earn a league-high $228,094 on WNBA supermax salaries this season. 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. If not for the remarkably low average WNBA salary, the Ws stars would not be compelled to play in overseas leagues in the offseason. When that happens, the average WNBA salary will be more representative of the quality of the players in the W. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. In the WNBA world, the story on everyones mind is Brittney Griners ongoing detention is Russia. With the 2022 WNBA season tipping off Friday, we took a look at the league's highest-paid players. Which added $5,150 to her earnings. For the first few years of the leagues history, it was so unpopular that the NBA had to subsidize the operating cost of their female counterpart. See the highest and lowest player salaries in the NBA on ESPN.com. That means that the NBA brings in about 125 times as much revenue as the WNBA. So its no mystery why shes one of the leagues top earners. Three franchises will pay their top-earning player less than $200,000 for the upcoming campaign. In the NBA world, weve reduced salary costs to buying wins. After being drafted as the #1 pick in 2016, Stewie swept the WNBA Regular Season MVP and WNBA Finals MVP. 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. Shes part of Carmelo Anthonys basketball video lessons program, and she was the first woman on the cover of NBA 2K. The basketball gender pay gap is significant. Net Worth: $400,000 WNBA Team: Phoenix Mercury Position: Point Guard Height: 5 ft. 9 in (1.75 m) Weight: 145 lbs. She signed a two year $463,030 contract last offseason, giving her an annual salary of $231,515. 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). 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. The two-time champion is leaving the Seattle Storm after six seasons to play for the New York Liberty. Your login session has expired. She is playing as Shooting guard for Seattle Storm. The 68 center for the Los Angeles Sparks has been selected to the All-Star team three times. And has had deals with State Farm and American Express in the past. Lets see which WNBA superstars have pocketed the most cash money over the past few years. 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. Next on the list of the highest paid WNBA player in the world is DeWanna Bonner. So given those facts, were going to take a stab at her endorsement income and estimate it to be at least $1.5 million. Shes also currently a member of Team USA. While the terms of the Nike deal remains under wraps, its estimated that she earns almost $1 million for the contract. , 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. The WNBA is a very new league, only having been founded in the late 1990s. The minimum salary for an WNBA player with two years of service will rise from $42,728 annually to $57,000 beginning in 2020. The highest-paid NBA players by season has recently eclipsed $40 million.Larry Bird was the first player to earn $5 million or more with a salary of $7,070,000 in the 1991-92 season. Bates has 501,000 followers across all social media. The problem is just that the WNBA isnt pushed as well as it could be. Most Expensive UFC Fighters Contracts Deals. Including being named twice to the All-WNBA First Team and twice to the All-WNBA Second team. A Quick History of WNBA Profitability. The Washington Mystics have promised her full salary despite the WNBA not awarding her a medical exemption for the season. Clocking in roughly $228,094 for the year, Loyd is currently in the midst of bringing the Storm back to the WNBA mountaintop. She played college basketball at Notre Dame. Which Colleges Have Had The Most NBA Players? In his sophomore season, he led the Jayhawks to a National Championship win. Although WNBA salaries seem low compared to other athletes, WNBA players typically play basketball year round, spending the WNBA offseason touring Europe and doubling, or sometimes tripling, their salary. There is simply no reason that womens college basketball should bring in more money than womens professional basketball.