In the competitive world of professional basketball, either male or female, one would anticipate that these highly trained and highly experienced athletes are well paid regardless of their gender classification.
That would be your first mistake, as we all know that anything that is new and used to be 100% male, in the professional basketball venue, definitely is not one to one equal.
We do not want to start any women’s liberation movement here and we do feel for the feminists of the United States as well as other parts of the world- but come on now this is professional basketball and this is the average WNBA salary posting.
Got Game?
With the men’s basketball season ramping up it is time to look at the average WNBA salary so that we can be shocked and amazed at the minimalistic pay that these wonderful, highly trained and somewhat beautiful women are paid for their duty.
The WNBA, which is 13 years young, has steadily gained popularity over the past couple of years, but if you think, the women are making close to as much as the men, think again. The disparity is alarming, but things are changing, if ever so painfully slowly.
Time for a Raise
For starters, rookies in a WNBA paid a minimum of $35,190. If that is alarming to you then you should know that the maximum WNBA salary for veteran players in 2010 is a little over 100 grand annually. Talk about culture shock! We would think that these wonderful finely tuned professional women’s basketball players deserve at least a quarter of the average salary that a veteran NBA baller gets. What do you think?
Good Girl
In contrast, of the NBA players who can average over $5 million annually each year, we feel for the WNBA women that work their tails off for the good of the game and for the thrill of the fans all across the United States and the world. The question that many are asking themselves who play in this WNBA league and also the owners of these teams that are starting to see some pretty impressive cash returns on their investments is when will be WNBA average salary rise?
To put things in a clearer perspective for you please take a look at some of the top paydays of the most recognizable WNBA players.
Marion Jones
As an accomplished professional athlete and Olympics sprinter first and then a professional women’s basketball player secondly, Marion Jones is sure to draw interest in the WNBA. The US Olympic sprinter has joined the Tulsa Shock in Oklahoma as its newest point guard.
Jones, once considered the world’s fastest woman, had admitted to using steroids for the 2000 Olympics. She had to return all five US Olympic medals and spent six months in lockup for the incident and involvement in a financially fraudulent check-scam. Marion Jones has signed a one-year contract with the Tulsa team receiving the league’s minimum salary of $35,000.
Lisa Leslie
The WNBA veteran who is now retired as of the ending of the 2009 Debbie WNBA season, Lisa Leslie had been considered the most marketable and most dominant player in the league. As a trailblazer for female basketball players Lisa has been in the league since its opening season and was the leader of points and rebounds for the L.A. Sparks in California. According to the AP in 2006, Leslie was making the maximum salary in the WNBA at a wimpy $91,000.
Seasons Change
Things definitely need to change for the girls in the WNBA and change fast. It is not fair for the owners to make loads of cash while these women struggle to pay their bills and live in the public eye with little over $40,000 a year. Anyone up for a donation to the Sue Bird charity?