Angel Reese shared her feelings on the next crop of rookies potentially making more than her when they enter the league, stating she will be ‘hurt’ knowing they will be the beneficiaries of a new CBA
Angel Reese shared her feelings, knowing that the next crop of WNBA rookies will earn more than she and the rest of her class did.
Reese, the Chicago Sky star, signed a four-year, $324,383 contract – with the final year a team option – after being drafted No. 7 overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft. In her rookie season, she earned $73,439 and in her sophomore season, the 22-year-old is slated to earn $74,909.
The final two years of her contract are where Reese will see a sizeable increase in her salary to $82,399 and $93,636, respectively. Considering how Reese’s contract was signed before the expiration of the current CBA – with the next slated to give players a considerable pay raise – the star made her feelings clear on the next crop of rookies set to make more than her.
“The women coming in, not this year but next year, the ones coming this year will still be on the rookie contract,” Reese began to DiJonai Carrington on a recent episode of ‘Unapologetically Angel.’ “The ones that are year after, they’re gonna get more. They’re probably gonna be making more than us. I’m hurt.”
Carrington, who is one of the team representatives included in discussions with the league, understands the inner workings of any potential deal and flatly admitted to Reese that rookies coming into the league will indeed make more than the 2024 class. And for Reese, the 22-year-old shared that she hopes the players will get what they deserve.
“I need to be in the meetings because I’m hearing that if (the league) don’t give us what we want, we’re sitting out,” Reese told Carrington. The Dallas Wings star chimed in, stating: “That’s a possibility, for real.”
DiJonai Carrington and Angel Reese spoke on how the new wave of rookies could be making more than the duo (
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Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The WNBPA has opted out of the current CBA, with the deal expiring at the end of the 2025 season instead of its original expiration date of 2027. This decision occurred after the league experienced an explosion in viewership and interactions, coinciding with Reese and Caitlin Clark’s entry into the WNBA.
In July 2024, the WNBA reached an agreement with Disney, NBC and Amazon on a massive broadcasting deal worth $2.2 billion. Considering how much is being brought into the league, WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson said that players are vying for a larger revenue share.
