THE WNBA attendance numbers and television ratings continue to improve, corporate sponsorships are growing, and players are finally seeing long-overdue financial progress in a myriad of areas, including higher salaries, better charter flights and accommodations, and overall league investment in their brands.
Stars are now marketed globally and in recent years rookies have entered the league and are already being recognized by the wider sporting world. Progress has made it easier to forget how different the league was not so long ago.
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In the 2000s, even players performing at the highest levels faced financial insecurity. some to play abroad just to be fairly compensated. Everyone struggled, including one of the best players in the league, Candace Parker.
Speaking on the Post Moves podcast, Parker shared stories that illustrate how undervalued her salary was in the late 2000s, even though she was already one of the league’s most recognizable stars.
Parker’s $12.34 WNBA check
Parker was drafted No. 1 overall by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2008 and was already a household name as a national star in Tennessee. Like fellow No. 1 picks Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, one might expect Parker to have been fairly compensated — especially since she was drafted by a team in Los Angeles, an already more popular market than some of her peers.
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However, the reality was very different.
Parker reportedly signed a $44,000 rookie contract – pennies compared to NBA rookies, where even the 30th pick in the 2008 draft was earned. $797,600 in their first year. Add in taxes and fans will see just how big a monetary gap there really is between the two leagues.
“But the first check I got, I’m not going to lie, when I got to the WNBA, I was like, who the hell is FICA? Because FICA takes way too much money,” Parker said.
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The Federal Insurance Contributions Act, or FICA, is responsible for deducting money from each paycheck to increase Social Security benefit credits — a common practice that further caught Parker off guard.
She did her finances no favors later in her rookie season, when she became involved in a notorious affair. fight on the field during a game against the Detroit Shock at the Palace of Auburn Hills – the same venue where “Malice at the Palace” took place.
Eleven players, including Parker, were suspended and fined for the brawl. Although no records reveal the amount of the fines, she hinted at how heavy and costly the fine and her one-match suspension were.
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“When we were in that fight in Detroit and I was suspended for the Connecticut game the next day, I wish I had a camera phone to take a picture. I still had a Blackberry at that point, but my check was for $12.34,” Parker recalled.
Parker had better years to come in the league, winning multiple MVPs and three championships before retiring in 2024 as one of the highest-paid players in league history. She reportedly earned $1,062,500 over her last eight seasons in the league.
The fight continues
Despite recent growth, players are still fighting to get paid more. Although the minimum salary has now increased to $66,000 and the maximum contract a player can receive is nearly $250,000, there is still a wide gap between what players deserve and what the WNBA pays them.
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In 2024, the WNBA saw its revenue increase by more than 200% compared to 2022. Much of it comes from the growing popularity that players like Clark, A’Ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum have brought to the league. However, the league has not really adapted salaries to increasing income.
The league and players are close to negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, but the past few weeks have not been promising, with the threat of a lockout looming. Even though the WNBA has become bigger today than it was in Parker’s era, it’s still clear that the players, whose talent and sacrifices made the league what it is today, continue to fight for compensation that truly reflects their worth.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on February 7, 2026, where he first appeared in the WNBA section. Add Basketball Network as Favorite source by clicking here.
