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
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Caitlyn Clark
Image Credit: Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 1
Team: Indiana Fever
College: Iowa State University
Contract: $338,056 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $76,535 -
Cameron Brink
Image Credit: Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 2
Team: Los Angeles Sparks
College: Stanford
Contract: $338,056 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $76,535 -
Karmilla Cardoso
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 3
Team: Chicago Sky
College: University of South Carolina
Contract: $338,056 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $76,535 -
Rickea Jackson
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 4
Team: Los Angeles Sparks
College: University of Tennessee
Contract: $338,056 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $76,535 -
Jacy Sheldon
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 5
Team: Dallas Wings
College: Ohio State University
Contract: $324,383 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $73,439 -
Aaliyah Edwards
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 6
Team: Washington Mystics
College: University of Connecticut
Contract: $324,383 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $73,439 -
Angel Reese
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 7
Team: Chicago Sky
College: Louisiana State
Contract: $324,383 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $73,439 -
Alissa Pili
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 8
Team: Chicago Sky
College: University of Utah
Contract: $324,383 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $73,439 -
Carla Leite
Image Credit: Sylvain Dionisio ATPImages/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 9
Team: Dallas Wings
Contract: $310,718 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $70,344 -
Leila Lacan
Image Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 11
Team: Connecticut Sun
Contract: $310,718 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $70,344 -
Marquesha Davis
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 11
Team: New York Liberty
College: Ole Miss: University of Mississippi
Contract: $324,383 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $73,439 -
Nyadiew Puoch
Draft Pick: No. 12
Team: Atlanta Dream
Contract: $310,718 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $70,344 -
Brynna Maxwell
Draft Pick: No. 13
Team: Chicago Wind
College: Gonzaga University
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Nika Mühl
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 14
Team: Seattle Storm
College: University of Connecticut
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Celeste Taylor
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 15
Team: Indiana Fever
College: Ohio State University
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Dyaisha Fair
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 16
Team: Las Vegas Aces
College: Syracuse University
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Esmery Martinez
Image Credit: Sean Elliot/NCAA Photos via Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 17
Team: New York Liberty
College: University of Arizona
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Kate Martin
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 18
Team: Las Vegas Aces
College: University of Iowa
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Taiyanna Jackson
Image Credit: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 19
Team: Connecticut Sun
College: University of Kansas
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Isabel Borlase
Image Credit: Sarah Reed/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 20
Team: Atlanta Dream
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Kaylynne Truong
Image Credit: Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 20
Team: Washington Mystics
College: Gonzaga University
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Helena Pueyo
Image Credit: Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 22
Team: Connecticut Sun
College: University of Arizona
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Jessika Carter
Image Credit: Marcus Snowden/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 23
Team: New York Liberty
College: Missouri State University
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Elizabeth Kitley
Image Credit: Alika Jenner/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 24
Team: Las Vegas Aces
College: Virginia Tech
Contract: $297,045 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $67,249 -
Charisma Osbourne
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 25
Team: Phoenix Mercury
College: UCLA
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
Mackenzie Holmes
Image Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 26
Team: Seattle Mystic
College: University of Indiana
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
Leilani Correa
Image Credit: Eakin Howard/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 27
Team: Indiana Fever
College: University of Florida
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
McKenzie Forbes
Image Credit: Steph Chambers/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 28
Team: Los Angeles Sparks
College: University of Southern California
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
Jaz Shelley
Image Credit: Adam Bettcher/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 28
Team: Phoenix Mercury
College: University of Nebraska
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
Nastja Claessens
Draft Pick: No. 30
Team: Washington Mystics
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
Kiki Jefferson
Image Credit: Rich Barnes/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 31
Team: Minnesota Lynx
College: University of Louisville
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
Matilde Villa
Image Credit: Davide Di Lalla/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 32
Team: Atlantic Dream
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
Ashley Owusu
Image Credit: G Fiume/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 33
Team: Dallas Wings
College: Penn State University
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
Abbey Hsu
Image Credit: Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Image Draft Pick: No. 34
Team: Connecticut Sun
College: Columbia University
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
Kaitlyn Davis
Image Credit: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 35
Team: New York Liberty
College: University of Southern California
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
Angel Jackson
Image Credit: Aron Smith/Jackson State University/Getty Images Draft Pick: No. 36
Team: Las Vegas Aces
College: Jackson State University
Contract: $276,830 (Projected)
2024 Cap: $64,154 -
How do WNBA players’ contracts compare to NBA players?
Image Credit: Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images 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.