Angel Reese had a solid rookie season for the Chicago Sky before it ended prematurely due to injury. While WNBA salaries have increased with the added popularity the game has received due to the 2024 excitement that fellow rookie Caitlin Clark brought to the women's game, Reese feels she is grossly underpaid.
There was a report last week that Reese even claimed WNBA players should get paid what NBA players do, but the validity of whether she said that or not has been put into question. Reality is that Reese and WNBA players would never want to get paid like NBA players since the latter is paid a percentage of the league's massive revenue while the former has never had a profitable season. If WNBA players were paid a percentage of their league's bottom line, they would make nothing, or even owe money.
Personally I believe it is great that America has a women's professional basketball league mind you. And one day it may even turn a profit and not have to be subsidized by the NBA. But while the league is still trying to get to that point, turning off potential fans isn't a wise move.
Reese’s WNBA salary is $73,439, which pales in comparison to NBA salaries, but is also quite a lot compared to your average Joe or Jane, and keep in mind the women's season is only half as long as the men's. WNBA players make a lot playing internationally the rest of the year, plus the exposure WNBA stars receive playing in the NBA subsidized league in America helps them make more money in endorsements.
WNBA players striking would be a massive hit to the gains that the league has made recently and could actually be a death blow. While it sounds virtuous to claim that WNBA players should be paid a lot more, that can only happen if the interest in watching their games in person or on TV increase dramatically.
More established WNBA stars would be wise to make it known that Reese may speak a lot and loudly, but she isn't the spokesperson for the players. Reese has done more of a disservice to her fellow WNBA players with her Caitlin Clark jealousy and is doing it again here. This could be a boom era for the WNBA like the 1980's were for the NBA when Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan took a struggling league and had it explode in popularity. One thing NBA players didn't do the moment things started to look up in the 80's was strike though.