An Irrational WNBA Salary

Guest blog from Ava Finkel

• What if a basketball player broke more records than we’ve ever seen broken in a season?
• What if that player scored double digits in all but one of their games?
• What if, as a rookie, that player broke multiple franchise records for scoring and assists?

Paige Bueckers

Well, that player exists. Her name is Paige Bueckers. If she had accomplished the same feats under the name Cooper Flagg, she would be making almost $14 million in her rookie season. Instead, she’s making $78,000.

On August 5th, the home arena of the New York Liberty, Barclays Center, didn’t just host a basketball game, it hosted a moment. The sold-out venue, packed with over 17,300 fans, was buzzing before tipoff. Loyal supporters stood up in their seats, stomping, clapping, and chanting all together. And it wasn’t just Liberty fans. Dallas Wings fans had come in droves, many of them donning a #5 Bueckers jersey, practically evening out the typical home-court advantage.

Think about that: a rookie drawing thousands of people across state lines to fill an arena for a matchup against the defending WNBA champions. If it were Cooper Flagg, headlines would already be praising him for the attention he brings to the game, all while he pocketed $14 million in his rookie season. Bueckers, however, is energizing a stadium in ways that most franchises can only dream about for just $78,000.

This highlights what I have anticipated for a while, and what the world is starting to realize: Paige Bueckers is emerging as the new face of the WNBA. This past season, she shattered tons of records and won the 2025 Kia Rookie of the Year, playing as well, if not better than how she played in college.

In her senior year (2024-25), Bueckers averaged 21.9 points per game (PPG), 5.2 rebounds per game (RPG), and 3.8 assists per game (APG), shooting 54% from the field, 41.6% from three, and 86.7% from the line.

Cooper Flagg

Now let’s compare that to Cooper Flagg. In his one season at Duke (2024-25), he averaged 19.2 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 4.2 APG, shooting 48% from the field, 39% from three, and 84% from the line.

Bueckers and Flagg finished with almost the exact same stats. But Bueckers led her team to a national championship victory while Flagg made it as far as the Final Four.

And here’s the kicker: one is making 0.6% of the other’s salary in their rookie year.

Markets

Economists have Nobel Prizes for studying irrational markets, and women’s basketball is a textbook case. In theory, supply and demand should determine a player’s price, meaning that players’ compensation would match their value.

But that’s not what’s happening. The pay tiers for the league’s draft picks cause even the most talented rookies to have relatively tiny salaries– $78,000 for the first four picks, and even less for those who come later. The WNBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) grants players about 9% of total league revenue. Because of this, it’s clear that supply and demand aren’t the factors that determine salaries in the league. The market is being shaped by pre-set rules, not by the fans or by the players themselves.

However, when the market makes the rules, in the newly introduced 3-v-3 league Unrivaled, Bueckers will be paid over $330,000—closer to $14 million but not there YET.