30 Highest Paid WNBA Players – 2024
July 29, 2024
Highest Paid WNBA Player 2024 – The WNBA is booming. The 2024 season, which began in May, has already been record-breaking. The first five WNBA games that aired on ESPN garnered an average viewership of more than 鈥攗p 226% from last year. In-person audiences are up as well, . The New York Liberty became the first team in league history to do more than $2 million in a single night of ticket sales; across the league, there were 10 sellout crowds during the first week of the season. The highest paid WNBA players are attracting bigger audiences than ever before鈥攄espite the fact they鈥檙e totally underpaid, especially in comparison to their counterparts in the NBA. More on that shortly.
The WNBA surge is at least partly attributable to a round of college hoops sensations who entered the pros this year. That includes phenoms like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. These players spent their college careers putting up all-time numbers and amassing dedicated fanbases of their own. And now those fanbases are carrying over into the WNBA.
Highest Paid WNBA Players – 2024 (Continued)
But WNBA salaries have failed to keep up with the increased visibility and cultural salience of the league. The average annual salary for a WNBA player is $102,000. The NBA, by contrast, is the best-paying pro sports league in the world, with an average annual salary of $8.3 million. MLB stars command multi-year deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and have you seen what college football coaches are making these days? Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have been at the forefront of the WNBA revitalization. However, they won鈥檛 even rank amongst the highest paid WNBA players in 2024. Clark is set to make $76,000 this year; Reese, $73,000.
Positive change might be around the corner, though. The WNBA players鈥 union can opt out of their current collective bargaining agreement before the 2025 season. With perhaps more scrutiny on the pay gap between men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball than ever before, it鈥檇 be a decisive time to do so. The players鈥 union could negotiate better minimum league salaries, player benefits, and bonuses.
I鈥檒l use average annual value (AAV), or how much a player makes in a given year, as the metric for determining the highest paid WNBA players.
Highest paid WNBA players
30) Jordin Canada, Atlanta Dream – $187,500
29) Cheyenne Parker, Atlanta Dream – $190,550
28) Brittney Sykes, Washington Mystics – $191,667
27) Courtney Vandersloot, New York Liberty – $191,835
Highest Paid WNBA Players – 2024 (Continued)
26) Jonquel Jones, New York Liberty – $192,500
25) Azur谩 Stevens, Los Angeles Sparks – $192,500
24) Satou Sabally, Dallas Wings – $195,000
23) Teaira McCowas, Dallas Wings – $195,700
Highest Paid WNBA Players – 2024 (Continued)
22) Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas Aces – $196,267
21) Natasha Cloud, Phoenix Mercury – $200,000
20) Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces – $200,000
19) DeWanna Bonner, Connecticut Sun – $200,000
Veteran DeWanna Bonner has been in the WNBA since 2009, when she was selected out of Auburn by the Phoenix Mercury as the fifth overall pick. Bonner is a two-time WNBA champion and six-time WNBA All-Star. And with 7,182 career points, she鈥檚 fifth on the list of all-time WNBA scorers.
18) Ariel Atkins, Washington Mystics – $200,000
17) A鈥檍a Wilson, Las Vegas Aces – $200,000
A鈥檍a Wilson is only 27 years old, but she鈥檚 considered by many to be the. She鈥檚 been with the Las Vegas Aces ever since they took her as the first overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft. She then led the Aces to back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023. Her 2020 and 2022 campaigns earned her the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award; she鈥檚 got a Rookie of the Year Award on her resume, six All-Star selections, two Defensive Player of the Year awards鈥he list of her accomplishments goes on and on, and I didn鈥檛 even mention her college career at South Carolina.
With her $200,000/year salary, Wilson is one of the highest paid WNBA players. Still, though, that figure seems low, especially when considering how dominant she is on the court (keep in mind, the average NBA player makes more than $8 million a year, and Wilson is anything but average). So like other WNBA superstars, Wilson makes more money via her endorsement deals than she does playing her sport. She鈥檚 inked endorsement deals with Ruffles, Mountain Dew, Nike, and Gatorade.
In February 2024, Wilson published her first book, Dear Black Girls, which landed on the New York Times best seller list.
Highest Paid WNBA Player – 2024 (Continued)
16) Nneka Ogwumike, Seattle Storm – $204,500
Prolific scorer Nneka Ogwumike is one of the highest paid WNBA players in 2024; a much more sizeable chunk over her overall earnings comes from endorsements. In 2012, just after she was drafted as the first overall pick by the LA Sparks, Ogwumike signed an endorsement deal with Nike.
Ogwumike is a nine-time WNBA All-Star, and she won a WNBA championship with the Sparks in 2016.
15) Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty – $205,000
Breanna Stewart played all four years of her college career at UConn under head coach Geno Auriemma, one of the winningest college hoops coaches of all time. At UConn, Stewart led the Huskies to four straight NCAA championships. She was selected as the first overall pick in the 2016 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm, and in her first season in the pros, she won Rookie of the Year honors. In 2018 and 2020, Stewart and the Storm won the WNBA championship鈥攂oth times, Stewart took home the WNBA Finals MVP award.
Stewart is one of the highest paid WNBA players, making upwards of $200,000 a year. But her star power has brought her lucrative endorsement deals as well. In 2016, she signed a multi-year endorsement deal with Nike, and in 2021, .
Highest Paid WNBA Players – 2024 (Continued)
14) Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty – $205,030
Sabrina Ionescu has been dominant at every stage of her basketball career, from high school to college to the WNBA. She was selected by the New York Liberty as the first overall pick in the 2020 WNBA draft and has already earned All-Star selections three times in her short career. In 2022, she won a gold medal for the US national team in the 2022 FIBA Women鈥檚 Basketball World Cup.
Ionescu is active off the court as well. She鈥檚 entered into endorsement deals with major brands such as AT&T, Beats by Dre, Xbox, Body Armor, and State Farm. In 2023, she launched her first signature shoe and clothing line with Nike. Her shoes, the Sabrina 1s, are available in both men鈥檚 and women鈥檚; Ionescu is the first women鈥檚 basketball player whose signature shoes are unisex. Although Ionescu is one of the highest paid players in the WNBA, her net worth鈥斺攊s largely the result of her off-court business acumen.
Highest Paid WNBA Players – 2024 (Continued)
13) Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever – $206,000
12) Kayla McBride, Minnesota Lynx – $206,500
11) Marina Mabrey, Connecticut Sun – $206,667
Highest Paid WNBA Players – 2024 (Continued)
10) Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun – $209,000
9) Skylar Diggins-Smith, Seattle Storm – $211,343
8) Brionna Jones, Connecticut Sun – $212,000
7) Erica Wheeler, Indiana Fever – $222,154
6) Natasha Howard, Dallas Wings – $224,675
5) Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury – $234,936
Diana Taurasi is an all-time great, who, at the age of 42, is still suiting up for the Phoenix Suns. She鈥檚 one of the highest paid WNBA players in terms of salary, but her endorsement deals with Nike and Body Armour have been even more lucrative.
Taurasi was drafted out of UConn by the Mercury as the first overall pick in the 2004 WNBA draft. In Phoenix she鈥檚 stayed, and in the 20-year span of her career, she鈥檚 put together one of the most impressive basketball resumes in the history of the sport. Here are the highlights: her first year in the pros, Taurasi won Rookie of the Year honors. She鈥檚 a three-time WNBA champion, a five-time Olympic gold medalist; she has a WNBA Most Valuable Player Award under her belt, and she鈥檚 led the league in scoring in five seasons. Oh, and by the way, she鈥檚 also the WNBA鈥檚 all-time leading scorer.
Highest Paid WNBA Player – 2024 (Continued)
4) Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings – $241,984
Point guard Arike Ogunbowale has only been in the league for five years, and in that time she鈥檚 put together a resume that includes four All-Star selections and a scoring title. Ogunbowale played college basketball at Notre Dame and led the Fighting Irish to an NCAA championship in 2018. She was selected as the fifth overall pick by the Dallas Wings in the 2019 WNBA draft.
3) Kahleah Copper, Phoenix Mercury – $245,059
For the first few years of her WNBA career, Kahleah Copper came off the bench. It wasn鈥檛 until 2020鈥攆our years after being drafted鈥攖hat she emerged as one of the WNBA鈥檚 elite players. That year, she led the Chicago Sky in scoring, averaging 14.8 points per game.
In the 2021 season, Copper made her first appearance in the All-Star game. She averaged 14.4 points per game in the regular season and continued to dominate in the playoffs, ultimately leading the Sky to their first WNBA championship and winning Finals MVP honors along the way.
Highest Paid WNBA Player – 2024 (Continued)
2) Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm – $245,508
Jewell Loyd was selected by the Seattle Storm as the first overall pick back in the 2015 WNBA draft, and she鈥檚 been living up to the hype ever since. Her first year in the league, she averaged 10.7 points per game on her way to winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award. The following year, Loyd made her first All-Star game (she鈥檚 been an All-Star six times in her ten-year career). In 2018, she led the Storm to a WNBA championship. Seattle made the playoffs the next year, but they were eliminated in the second round. In the 2020 pandemic-shortened season, though, Loyd took the Storm back to the WNBA championship, ultimately defeating the Las Vegas Aces in a three-game sweep.
1) Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces – $252,450
Jackie Young, the highest paid WNBA player, is another first overall draft pick. And it didn鈥檛 take long for the Aces鈥 investment to start to pay off. She helped the Aces win their first-ever WNBA title in 2022, and in 2023, she helped them defend their championship. In addition to being a two-time WNBA champion, Young鈥檚 accolades include the WNBA Most Improved Player Award (2022) and three All-Star selections.
Highest Paid WNBA Players 2024 – Additional Resources
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