WNBA player salaries are the hot topic surrounding the CBA negotiations for next season. However, for this year, the league’s players have to deal with the current structure.
A significant chunk of players make five-figure salaries, including Caitlin Clark, the WNBA’s biggest draw. But Clark has a chance to enter the six-figure range while also helping her teammates in the process.
The Indiana Fever will play in the Commissioner’s Cup championship against the Minnesota Lynx, the defending champions of the WNBA’s in-season tournament, on July 1.
The teams will play for a $500,000 prize pool, where players on the winning team each win around $30,000 while those on the losing team take home about $10,000 each. The MVP takes home an additional $5,000.
Each player on both teams will also receive $5,000 worth of cryptocurrency from Coinbase.
“Why wouldn’t we celebrate that [accomplishment]? We’re getting to play for a pool of money. That’s pretty fun, and you’re competing to win a trophy,” Clark said Wednesday after defeating the Connecticut Sun, a game that involved several on-court altercations.
For Clark, an additional $30,000 to $40,000 is probably not very significant given her multimillion-dollar endorsement deals, but a win and MVP provide more than a 50% increase on her annual salary. That’s a similar increase to other players on rookie contracts like the Fever’s Makayla Thompson ($69,267) and the Lynx’ Alissa Pili ($74,909).
Even for the highest-paid players on both teams, the prize still represents a significant lift. Lynx star Napheesa Collier, the WNBA’s leading MVP candidate, would see a 19% increase in her $214,284 salary if she leads Minnesota to victory and takes home the Commissioner’s Cup MVP award.
In the Emirates NBA Cup, the in-season tournament of the NBA, the prize money for one player on the winning team ($514,970) is more than the prize pool for both teams in the Commissioner’s Cup final. While that is a huge sum for most NBA players, especially for those on smaller deals, it’s like a drop in the bucket for the league’s biggest stars.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, the two best players on the Bucks, who won the 2024 NBA Cup, each made nearly $49 million last season. Based on an 82-game schedule, that means Antetokounmpo and Lillard made about $595,000 per game last year, which is more than they received for winning the NBA Cup.
“The rich get richer,” Antetokounmpo joked after defeating the Magic to advance to the semifinals in Las Vegas in December.
