000 with a minimum salary of $40,000 and a maximum of $125,000 annually (Women’s Professional Basketball Set to Go). The average prize earnings of the top ten professional male athletes were at least double that of their female counterparts in tennis, bowling, golf, skiing and beach volleyball (Zavian). Detroit Shock guard Jennifer Azzi shocked women’s sports when she said she would not return to the WNBA because of low pay. She earned $200,000 a year in the ABL, and because of its closure she moved to the WNBA and just made $44,000 last year (Woellert p.04). By league rule, the WNBA teams fly commercial airlines, coach and in Houston where the Comets play they do not even have their own names on their cubicles (Leland, Rosenburg p.56). The WNBA has 16 teams and the NBA has 29, many people think that the WNBA doesn’t have the talent to fill all of the teams. Nikki McCray who plays for the Indiana Fever is one of the WNBA’s premier players. Here is a comparison of her and Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the highest paid NBA player. Kevin GarnettMinnesota Timberwolves (joined the NBA in 1995 directly from high school).1997 averages: 17 points and eight rebounds per game1998 salary: reportedly more than $250,000 per gameNikki McCrayIndiana Fever (NCAA All-American; Olympic gold medallist; 1997 ABL MVP)1997 averages: 20 points per game and 5 rebounds1998 salary: capped by the WNBA at no more than $1,833 per gameSource: Davis, Kristin. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, Dec. 97, Vol. 51 Issue 12Kevin Garnett joined the NBA straight out of high school, the WNBA requires players to complete their college eligibility or be 21 (Rosenberg, Leland p.56). There is also pay shortages in other sports besides basketball, the women’s tennis tour has no title sponsor and the women’s champion at Wimbledon this year will earn 70,000$ less than the men’s (Equal Footing). Wimbledon voted to ...
