OT Caitlin Clark's WNBA rookie contract breakdown released

[dc]

She'll simply have to build that league up like Wilt, Magic & Bird, Jordan, LeBron & Steph have done the NBA.

If Candace Parker couldn't build up the league what makes you think Clark will? Mind you Parker won MVP as a rookie.

She was great in college, but I doubt she will a be a big thing a few years from now.

WNBA is still like the older NBA when they relied on colleges to build up prospects to enter the league. Magic vs. Bird being the obvious example. Shaq was also built up. A problem women's bball has had has been Tennessee and then UCONN basically having a monopoly on the college game and I think people becoming bored of it. Great players on those teams scored their 18-20 (like Parker) and those teams dominated. At a certain point, nobody cares.

Clark carried a not so great Iowa team to the Finals 2 years in a row on unreal levels of efficiency. An even better, women's version of Curry carrying Davidson to the elite 8. That's something the women's game hadn't seen before.

If Clark went to UConn and did the 18-20 points a game while playing for the same old established, dominant power, it wouldn't have had nearly the same effect.

[shrink]

If Clark went to UConn and did the 18-20 points a game while playing for the same old established, dominant power, it wouldn't have had nearly the same effect.

You’re right, and for the record, this nearly happened. Clark grew up hoping to go to UConn, but they never recruited her.

Also, Geno Auriemma wouldn’t have let her take those 30-foot, off-the-dribble bombs that make Clark so much fun to watch.

[JustBuzzin]

She'll simply have to build that league up like Wilt, Magic & Bird, Jordan, LeBron & Steph have done the NBA.

If Candace Parker couldn't build up the league what makes you think Clark will? Mind you Parker won MVP as a rookie.

She was great in college, but I doubt she will a be a big thing a few years from now.

I'm just stating what she'll have to do in order to get the outcome that people think she should have.

I get what you're saying, I'm just saying the sport itself has never been popular. I have a hard time believing she can make the sport a main attraction. I could be wrong this is just my opinion.

[ellobo]

If Clark went to UConn and did the 18-20 points a game while playing for the same old established, dominant power, it wouldn't have had nearly the same effect.

You’re right, and for the record, this nearly happened. Clark grew up hoping to go to UConn, but they never recruited her.

Also, Geno Auriemma wouldn’t have let her take those 30-foot, off-the-dribble bombs that make Clark so much fun to watch.

Clark was never going to UCONN. She wanted to be recruited by UCONN, but she was never going to go there. It was either Notre Dame or Iowa. Geno knew it and already had Bueckers coming.

BTW, her estimated earnings last year were over $3 million, between NIL and endorsements, with most of it being endorsements that are ongoing.

[D.Brasco]

If Candace Parker couldn't build up the league what makes you think Clark will? Mind you Parker won MVP as a rookie.

She was great in college, but I doubt she will a be a big thing a few years from now.

I'm just stating what she'll have to do in order to get the outcome that people think she should have.

I get what you're saying, I'm just saying the sport itself has never been popular. I have a hard time believing she can make the sport a main attraction. I could be wrong this is just my opinion.

She can't do it just herself and it's an unfair expectation to place on her.

The WNBA has been around long enough that it can't rely on the upstart league excuse anymore. They and the NBA have got to assess what is and isn't working with their branding and marketing.

Btw Wilt and Bill Russell in the mid 1960s made 100k in a season already, that's more than Caitlyn Clark will make in 2027.

[AleksandarN]

Man if I were her I would have gone to the Big 3 for 5 million.

She would make on endorsements alone in the first year in the wnba. She would be stupid to take the big 3 offer. She will get more exposure in the wnba.

[homecourtloss]

She'll simply have to build that league up like Wilt, Magic & Bird, Jordan, LeBron & Steph have done the NBA.

If Candace Parker couldn't build up the league what makes you think Clark will? Mind you Parker won MVP as a rookie.

She was great in college, but I doubt she will a be a big thing a few years from now.

Candace Parker’s Popularity and what she did for the game does not come anywhere close to what Caitlin Clark’s popularity and what she has done for women’s basketball. This is the highest point women’s basketball has ever been, and it’s on the back of Clark (and a few others). Clark is a household name while very few if any college players outside of Bronny James are. If this cannot be a segued and translated into long-term success for the sport, well, there’s probably no hope.

[jowglenn]

She's going to make millions in endorsements. She's immediately the biggest sports star in Indiana, no joke

[ccvle]

How the heck the league survived all these years

[UcanUwill]

It is all relative, 76k a year would be insane money to me even today, but in USA economy I believe it would be perceived low even for non athlete? When I was growing up, my mother raised me, what at a time, dollar being way stronger, was an equivalent of maybe 1k per year...

That said, we need to remember how much bigger NBA salaries are, compared yo even other players playing same sport. Best non NBA players will get 3 mil tops, you can still buy good Euroleague player for 600k, and majority of pro basketball players around the world, are still way worse than a good Euroleague player. In my country, even some lesser known clubs players are nationally known, but I doubt many of them get 76k a year.

Vaidas Kariniauskas, who even made national team, I mean he only made it cause like 10 best guys refused to play this past year, but he still made it, and famously ended up trashing team USA and Austin Reaves in particular, I believe his contract prior to that game was below 30k...

[NyKnicks1714]

There's no reason why the WNBA can't grow. The NBA was in extremely rough shape before Bird and Magic came along, and it had been in existence for many decades. I don't know if Clark will have a significant impact on the WNBA'S popularity, but she definitely could, or at least be the start of a period of growth.

[Ito]

Looking like they got a raise or sum

Still making what a nba rookie got in a year, but doesn’t look that bad.. the next contract after that where the difference is but she should b loaded by then with them other contract deals

Edit.. what am I’m saying that was like 20 yrs ago that rookies used to make 370k a season Wemby got 55 mils.. shawty on a 10 day contract but it’s all good still look like they got a lil raise

[azcatz11]

It is all relative, 76k a year would be insane money to me even today, but in USA economy I believe it would be perceived low even for non athlete? When I was growing up, my mother raised me, what at a time, dollar being way stronger, was an equivalent of maybe 1k per year...

That said, we need to remember how much bigger NBA salaries are, compared yo even other players playing same sport. Best non NBA players will get 3 mil tops, you can still buy good Euroleague player for 600k, and majority of pro basketball players around the world, are still way worse than a good Euroleague player. In my country, even some lesser known clubs players are nationally known, but I doubt many of them get 76k a year.

Vaidas Kariniauskas, who even made national team, I mean he only made it cause like 10 best guys refused to play this past year, but he still made it, and famously ended up trashing team USA and Austin Reaves in particular, I believe his contract prior to that game was below 30k...

You can make $40k a year flipping burgers in California. Literally

[alebaba]

She'll make majority of her money from endorsement

[Revived]

How are most people not realizing that WNBA season is significantly shorter than NBA seasons?

[ChipotleWest]

Man if I were her I would have gone to the Big 3 for 5 million.

She would make on endorsements alone in the first year in the wnba. She would be stupid to take the big 3 offer. She will get more exposure in the wnba.

She's a commodity, you act like the endorsements wouldn't be there anyway. And it's not like if she went to the Big 3 for one year she couldn't go to WNBA after. It's not a lifelong commitment, they were giving her 5 million for one season.

[CIN-C-STAR]

For one, thats a pretty great paycheck for 4-5 months of work. But also, sports are an entertainment business. In entertainment, you make what you bring in

That might be true in some entertainment industries, but not really for the NBA/WNBA.
Rookie contracts are standardized, so the #1 pick makes the same if they are the greatest prospect of all time or Anthony Bennett in a weak draft because no one really knows who to take.
The salary cap system w max contracts and vet minimums further distorts the market.
Not that this is unique to Clark of course. Wemby is also grossly underpaid for the value he brings, as are Lebron, Luka & Jokic, etc.
It's just that those guys make so much no one really cares. But Clark will be egregiously under compensated for the value she brings.
Remember that US sports leagues are Congressionally-sanctioned monopolies, not free markets (and even in a truly free market would likely operate as monopolies and thus employee contracts would not likely be direct reflections of market value).

[DOT]

The Big 3 offer was never real, it was just them trying to capitalize on her popularity to make headlines. She said herself she'd never heard anything from them, so it's not a serious offer.

[jc23]

This is the legacy of Diana Taurasi and all the bums trashing on her. They did nothing for the product. Caitlin will put them on her back

This is such a non-basketball player take. That’s her personality and she is stating the obvious. You want everyone to just give empty praise and say she is the best player in the world before setting foot in the WNBA. Based on the number of teams, the talent jump is at least as big as the NBA. It’s gonna be an adjustment.

And the narrative around these women hating is ridiculous and based a lot on race. We’ll see in a few years when Juju comes, bc she is just as talented and very exciting. CC is also far from the only exciting player to into the league (see Maya Moore). It’s just the right time.


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I dont buy into the its the right time talk; that devalues what Caitlin has done. Nothing was stopping any of the other women basketball players from drawing as much attention if it were the case.

The Chicago Sky just drafted two players who i know the names of which is primarily because they played Iowa in the tournament.

She is not the best ever but she is the most important imo.

[TheGeneral99]

I mean if she generates the amount of interest she had this year during College she'll be the one to make the league more popular and increase player salaries.

It's estimated that the WNBA generates like $60 million in revenue annually while the NBA generates $10 billion annually.

The top WNBA player today makes $240,000 annually.

So this makes sense...the NBA generates almost 200x the revenue as the WNBA and this is reflected by the salaries.

If the WNBA was generating even 5x the revenue they are doing now the top players would be making millions.