The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is gaining more popularity over the years among basketball fans, find out who are the highest paid players in 2023, different types of NBA contracts, salary cap, and salaries
Currently, the top spot on the highest paid players list is a three-way tie between Diana Taurasi, Arike Ogunbowale and Jewell Loyd.
WNBA salaries and contracts 2023, highest paid players list, salary cap
Highest paid WNBA players according to the @boardroom is Jackie Young at $252k pic.twitter.com/UlAYaJtPHh
— waves (@916Waves) May 19, 2023
Highest paid NBA star – Stephan Curry $48m
Highest paid WNBA star – Jackie Young – $252,000
Highest paid football star – Cristiano Ronaldo – $200m
Highest paid female football star – Sam Ker – $525,000— Mitch Connor (@PabloPicante6) May 12, 2023
All the top three women earn an annual salary of $234,936, while Stephen Curry, the highest paid player in the NBA, earns an annual salary of $51.9 million.
WNBA list of highest paid players in 2023
Aside from the top three players, check out the full top 20 list of highest player salaries in the WNBA:
| Rank | Player | Salary | Team |
| 1 | Arike Ogunbowale | $234,936 | Dallas Wings |
| 2 | Diana Taurasi | $234,936 | Phoenix Mercury |
| 3 | Jewell Loyd | $234,936 | Seattle Storm |
| 4 | Elena Delle Donne | $234,350 | Washington Mystics |
| 5 | DeWanna Bonner | $234,350 | Connecticut Sun |
| 6 | Skylar Diggins-Smith | $234,350 | Phoenix Mercury |
| 7 | Natasha Howard | $227,900 | Dallas Wings |
| 8 | Cheyenne Parker | $216,100 | Atlanta Dream |
| 9 | Alyssa Thomas | $212,000 | Connecticut Sun |
| 10 | Jonquel Jones | $211,150 | New York Liberty |
| 11 | Brionna Jones | $208,000 | Connecticut Sun |
| 12 | Kelsey Mitchell | $206,000 | Indiana Fever |
| 13 | Kahleah Copper | $205,000 | Chicago Sky |
| 14 | A’ja Wilson | $202,155 | Las Vegas Aces |
| 15 | Napheesa Collier | $202,154 | Minnesota Lynx |
| 16 | Erica Wheeler | $202,154 | Indiana Fever |
| 17 | Marina Mabrey | $202,000 | Chicago Sky |
| 18 | Kayla McBride | $201,984 | Minnesota Lynx |
| 19 | Aerial Powers | $201,984 | Minnesota Lynx |
| 20 | Betnijah Laney | $201,984 | New York Liberty |
Different types of WNBA contracts
When it comes to player contracts, the WNBA has various sorts of contracts, find out more about them below:
Rookie scale contracts
Rookie scale contracts are for players who are joining the WNBA as draftees and have previously not signed any contract. Players in each round gets a different base scale. Given below is the base scale for 2023:
| Rounds | Base scale |
| 1-4 | $74,305 |
| 5-8 | $71,300 |
| 9-12 | $68,295 |
| Second round | $65,290 |
| Third round | $62,285 |
| Undrafted | $62,285 |
Besides the Rookie scale contracts, there are four other types of contracts, which are all non-standard.
Rest-of-season contracts
Player sign rest-of-season contracts only after the season starts. This type of contracts don’t have any sort of base salary protection. As such, the value can fall anywhere between the league minimum and maximum.
Replacement contracts
Replacement contracts are very similar to rest-of-season contracts, with usually the only difference being that teams can only sign this contract only if multiple players are currently unable to perform. Moreover, it is the only contract that allows a team to go above the salary cap. However, these contracts get terminated as soon as the player being replaced becomes fit to play.
Hardship and emergency hardship exceptions
Replacement contracts are generally used only during hardship and emergency hardship exceptions. Hardship exceptions include injury, illness or other conditions like pregnancy and childbirth. Players are out of play for three or more weeks at the least in such cases. Meanwhile, emergency hardship exceptions are for when a team doesn’t have enough players available on their roster (under 10 players).
Seven-day contracts
Seven-day contracts last for a week and players can sign them only in the second half of the season. These types of contracts are usually very low commitment contacts, and players can sign up to three such contracts with the same team throughout a singular season.
Training camp contracts
Player can sign training camp contracts only during the preseason. This means from February 1 to the first day of the regular season. Such contracts include a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum salary. This salary is not added to the cap up until the start of the regular season.
Salary cap
A salary cap in any sports league basically refers to the total salary limit for all the players that a team registers. This includes things like time off bonuses and trade bonuses. In the WNBA, it is a hard cap with little to no flexibility.
This cap expands after every season, and allows players revenue to also expand in turn. Given below are the salary caps (and their minimums) up until 2027, based on current stats:
| Year | Cap | Minimum |
| 2023 | $1,420,500 | $1,188,990 |
| 2024 | $1,463,200 | $1,224,630 |
| 2025 | $1,507,100 | $1,261,440 |
| 2026 | $1,552,300 | $1,299,240 |
| 2027 | $1,598,800 | $1,338,210 |