Top 10+ Highest-Paid Female Basketball Players 2024
Top 10+ Highest-Paid Female Basketball Players 2024
Table of Contents

On May 14, 2024, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) will begin its regular season. Twelve skilled teams will gear up to play forty games per in an attempt to get to the WNBA championships. Devoted followers may be interested in knowing the details of the weekly basketball matchups, such as which player is the highest paid player in the WNBA.

Here, we'll list the top salaries that WNBA players can anticipate receiving for the 2024 campaign. We'll also look at the salary difference between the WNBA and the NBA and explain how WNBA compensation operates.

How much do WNBA players make on average?

The average WNBA salary as of 2023 is $147,745. A WNBA player's maximum salary is $234,936 for a single season. The WNBA minimum salary is $64,000.

However, WNBA earnings have been gradually increasing. The maximum pay in 2022 was $228,094. The maximum was $190,550 in 2021. The WNBA wage cap was raised in January 2020 with the implementation of a new collective bargaining agreement. As a result, each max and supermax player will earn a three percent salary increase year.

NBA vs. WNBA pay comparison

A WNBA team's total salary is limited to $1,463,200. This is much less than the average NBA salary of $9.7 million per player, which is divided among 11 or 12 players. In the meanwhile, each NBA team is subject to a $136.02 million salary cap.

Top 10+ Highest-Paid Female Basketball Players 2024

1. Jonquel Jones, Liberty of New York

Contract with Jonquel Jones: $216,150 for two years

Salary for Jonquel Jones: $208,075

Jonquel Jones was the WNBA MVP in 2021. She was soon rewarded with a two-year contract that put her among the league's highest paid players. Three years later, Jones remains in the top earners with the Liberty.

2. Alyssa Thomas Sun, Connecticut

Contract with Alyssa Thomas: four years, $836,000

$209,000 is Alyssa Thomas's salary.

Throughout her nine years in the WNBA, Thomas has won numerous accolades.

The 2022 All-WNBA Second Team

WNBA First Team All-Defensive (2020)

(2017, 2019, 2022) WNBA All-Defensive Second Team three times

Three-time WNBA All-Star (2019, 2022) and 2022 AP Comeback Player of the Year recipient

2014 WNBA All-Rookie Team

Defensive Player of the Year in the EuroLeague (2023)

Two-time First Team All-EuroLeague (2022 and 2023)

In her basketball career, she has accomplished a great deal.

3. Erica Wheeler, Indiana Fever

Contract with Erica Wheeler: $244,308 for two years

Erica Wheeler makes $222,154 a year.

Wheeler, an eight-year veteran of the league, was signed as an undrafted free agent and has played for four different teams. Although she doesn't score a lot, her talent is obvious. Wheeler, who was selected as the first undrafted player to win All-Star MVP, has become a well-known figure.

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4. Natasha Howard, Dallas Wings

Contract with Natasha Howard: $4 years, $898,700

Salary of Natasha Howard: $224,675

She has the eighth-highest AAV in 2023, but her $898,700 contract value is fourth in the WNBA.

Here are a few of Howard's accomplishments.

2018's WNBA Most Improved Player

WNBA All-Star in both 2022 and 2019

The 2019 All-WNBA First Team

The 2019 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year

2020, 2018, and 2017 WNBA Champions

Since being chosen in 2014, Howard has taken home three WNBA championships.

Over the course of her nine-year career, she has won numerous honors.

5. Skylar Diggins-Smith, Phoenix Mercury

Contract length for Skylar Diggins-Smith: four years, $899,480

Salary for Skylar Diggins-Smith: $224,870

Diggins-Smith, who signed the highest-paying contract in WNBA history in 2020, is no longer the highest-paid player in women's basketball. However, the six-time All-Star is still doing well and will probably get another big contract shortly.

6. Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics

Contract with Elena Delle Donne: $4 years, $899,480

Salary of Elena Delle Donne: $224,870

It should come as no surprise to see two-time WNBA MVP Delle Donne among the highest-paid female basketball players. Since being selected second overall in 2013, she has been a reliable hooper in the league, earning seven All-Star selections.

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7. Bonner, DeWanna, Conn. Sun

DeWanna Bonner's four-year contract is for $899,480. Her pay is $224,870.

She may have the sixth-highest AAV in 2023, but her $899,480 contract value is tied for top in the WNBA.

The following list highlights some of Bonner's 13-year WNBA career accomplishments.

WNBA Champion twice, in 2009 and 2014, with the Phoenix Mercury

WNBA All-Star four times (in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2021).

AP Comeback Player of the Year for 2018

WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year three times (2009, 2010, 2011)

2016 ESPY Award Winner for Best WNBA Player

Throughout her 13-year career, she has received numerous honors and two titles.

8. Diana Taurasi, Mercury Phoenix

Diana Taurasi: $469,872 for two years under contract

Diana Taurasi makes $234,936 a year.

Over the course of her 18-year WNBA career, Diana Taurasi has achieved a great deal, making her one of the greatest players of all time.

In terms of total contract value, Taurasi is ranked 23rd in the WNBA, but with an annual average value (AAV) of $234,936 in 2023, he ranks third.

9. Ogunbowale Arike, Dallas Wings

Contract with Arike Ogunbowale: three years, $725,952

Salary for Arike Ogunbowale: $241,984

Three seasons into her WNBA career, the Wings locked up their star player, Arike Ogunbowale, to a three-year supermax deal, demonstrating her status as the youthful captain of an emerging Dallas team. Nonetheless, they had every reason to want to retain the two-time All-Star in the Lone Star State: since her debut in 2019, she has led the team in scoring each season, and in 2020, she led the league in scoring as well.

10. Kahleah Copper, Chicago Sky

Contract with Kahleah Copper: $2 years, $490,118

Salary for Kahleah Copper: $241,984

Kahleah Copper made the decision to settle permanently in Chicago soon after she assisted the Chicago Sky in defeating the Las Vegas Aces in 2021 to win their first-ever WNBA Championship and gain Finals MVP accolades as well. Before the 2022 season, the athletic wing re-signed for a two-year contract worth $405,000.

Copper is the most paid player in the Windy City this season, despite the fact that many of the team's former superstars are now playing for the newly established superteams in the league.

11. Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm

Jewell Lloyd's contract: $491,016 over two years

Salary for Jewell Loyd: $245,508

The first overall pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft was Chicago native Jewell Loyd, a guard standing five feet ten inches tall. Since then, along with fellow superstars Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart, she has been an integral part of the Seattle Storm team, helping them win two WNBA titles.

The four-time WNBA All-Star will have to lead the Storm without Bird and Stewart at her side for the first time in her career. However, the organization put its faith in Loyd by giving her a two-year supermax contract before the end of the last campaign, which will make her the highest-paid player on the squad in 2023.

12. Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces.

Jackie Young's two-year, $504,900 deal

Jackie Young's annual salary is $252,450.

Young is the highest-paid WNBA player ever in addition to being the top earner in the league. But who's to say she isn't worth every penny and then some after supporting the Las Vegas Aces to victory in the 2020 WNBA Finals?

Conclusion

In conclusion, because the WNBA does not bring in as much money as the NBA does, WNBA players make far less money than NBA players. In 2023, a single WNBA player earned almost a quarter of a million dollars.

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