WNBA star Angel Reese has made a surprising confession about her salary.
The skilled girls’s basketball participant took to her Instagram Reside on Tuesday (October 15) after attending the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York City. Through the livestream, the 22-year-old Chicago Sky ahead revealed she “wouldn’t even be capable of dwell” on her annual basketball wage alone.
“I simply hope you understand the WNBA don’t pay my payments in any respect,” Reese stated, in keeping with a clip reposted by Plugged Soundz. “I don’t even assume that pays certainly one of my payments. Actually, I’m attempting to consider my lease for the place I keep at [in Chicago]. I’m gonna do the mathematics actual fast.”
After the Louisiana State College alum calculated her spending, noting that her lease is $8,000 per thirty days, Reese exclaimed: “I’m residing past my means!”
“I wouldn’t even be capable of get a sandwich if I needed to,” she added. “I wouldn’t be capable of eat. I wouldn’t be capable of dwell.”
In 2024, Reese signed a four-year contract with the Chicago Sky price $324,383. In response to Spotrac, an internet sports activities monetary system, Reese is predicted to earn an annual wage of $73,439 for the 2024 WNBA season.
Nonetheless, very like fellow WNBA star Caitlin Clark, Reese may earn over $1m from model offers and endorsements. Final yr, she signed a multi-year take care of Reebok, which noticed the basketball star create her private assortment of merchandise referred to as “Angel’s Picks.”
Along with the athletic attire model, Reese has signed endorsement offers with manufacturers like Beats by Dre, Tampax, Airbnb, Amazon, Ps, Bose, Elevating Cane’s, Sonic, and Mielle Organics price an estimated complete of $1.8m, per Spotrac.
Reese isn’t the one WNBA star to spark outrage over her rookie salary. After Clark was selected first pick in the 2024 WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever, the 22-year-old athlete signed a contract price $338,056 over 4 years. She earned $76,535 in her rookie season this yr, and is projected to earn an annual wage of $97,582 by the top of her four-year contract.
It didn’t take lengthy for followers to level out that gamers within the WNBA earn far lower than their male counterparts within the NBA. “Best participant in faculty basketball historical past simply acquired an entry degree mission supervisor wage,” one fan wrote on X/Twitter in response to Clark’s four-year contract.
“That is bogus, they’ve made extra headlines than any man that’s presently taking part in,” one other particular person stated. “Pay girls what they deserve in sports activities.”
Even US President Joe Biden referred to as for feminine athletes to be “paid what they deserve” amid outrage over Clark’s first-year wage. “Girls in sports activities proceed to push new boundaries and encourage us all,” he started his post on X. “However proper now we’re seeing that even in case you’re one of the best, girls aren’t paid their justifiable share.
“It’s time that we give our daughters the identical alternatives as our sons and guarantee girls are paid what they deserve,” Biden added.
The WNBA presently makes an estimated $60m yearly from promoting its media rights and licensing offers with Amazon, CBS, and ION, Front Office Sports reviews. That’s in comparison with the typical NBA group, which is price roughly $3.85bn – with the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, and the Los Angeles Lakers every price greater than $6bn, in keeping with Forbes.