Gabby Williams returned to the WNBA after carrying Team France to the gold medal match against Team USA at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Shortly after her heroic Olympic run, Williams, who spent the first 28 games of the WNBA season playing overseas for financial reasons, re-signed with the Seattle Storm for the remainder of the 2024 season.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound versatile wing averaged 10.3 points, four rebounds and 3.7 assists in her 12 games, helping the Storm finish with a top 5 seeding in the playoffs before losing to the two-time defending champion Vegas Aces in the first round.
Williams is one of several star players who in the past had to play overseas in the offseason or during what would be the WNBA season, because of the low wages the league offers star players.
Gabby Williams Says WNBA Hasn’t Met Financial Promises To Players
The versatile baller has been very critical of the WNBA’s pay structure in the past, and her decision to play overseas rather than return to the WNBA was purely financial.
Gabby Williams say WNBA stars still have to go overseas to earn a livable wage because WNBA hasn’t come through with promises for increased promotion, salaries and brand revenue. (Photo: Getty Images/WNBA IG)
Last summer she told The Next Hoops, “Unfortunately, [the WNBA] doesn’t pay the most. So I am happy to have other options to provide for me and my family.
Williams repeated her criticism of the WNBA’s pay structure during her exit presser with the Storm on Thursday.
“The W[NBA] thinks that they don’t have to pay us more in order for us to be here. And I think I didn’t express that when I first talked about prioritization,” Williams said.
“Our commissioner talked about us being able to make $700,000. That’s actually not true at all. There’s not one player who makes that.”
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert previously said that the league was valued at $60 million entering the season and that number had jumped significantly this season, past the $120 million they hoped to haul in off the backs of the new batch of captivating rookies.
Assuming that’s true, it’s odd that the WNBA didn’t find it important to put new pay scales into place by now. Or at least present a concrete plan for instituting it.
Why Hasn’t WNBA Made Higher Wages For 144 Players A Focus Prior To New CBA?
With the booming ratings and boosted attendance and interest, particularly in Caitlin Clark, and the new $2 billion media rights check the NBA cut, chartered flights in position and several current players having shoe deals, you’d think the league would prioritize pay hikes commensurate with the increased revenue streams.
The WNBA’s current CBA started in 2020 and runs through 2027, but both the WNBA and the Players Association can opt out of the agreement by providing written notice by November 1, 2024.
Star players, such as Breanna Stewart of the NY Liberty have been saying they want to opt of the current CBA for years now. With the new revenue platform and increased brand valuation — one which some analysts such as Cheryl Miller insist is still being undervalued — it’s likely that both parties will opt out and player salaries will be a major point of negotiations.
The prior WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement was built upon these three selling points:
1. Significant Increases to Player Cash Compensation and Benefits
3. Enhanced Travel Standards; Expanded Career Development Opportunities; New Child Care, Maternity and Progressive Family Planning Benefits
Williams is simply pointing out that it’s been four years and nothing has changed.
WNBA’s Highest-Paid Player Makes $252K
The WNBA’s highest-paid player in 2024 is Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young, who earns an annual salary of $252,450.
In comparison, Duke freshman Cooper Flagg has a current NIL Valuation of $1.4M, according to reports.
Despite what is being presented as this unprecedented moment in WNBA history and one of exponential financial growth in a short time, according to Williams, the league has yet to come through on promises to players concerning marketing and promotions and salaries.
WNBA CBA Expires In 2027
To be fair, under the last CBA, finalized in 2021, players were reportedly going to have the potential to earn more than $500,000 annually in cash compensation. Maximum salaries did climb to $215,000—nearly doubling prior max of $117,500.
Players and the league also agreed to share revenue 50-50 based on the league’s ability to meet revenue targets from marketing, broadcast, and licensing deals.
Williams says the players haven’t really benefitted from any of it and the league hasn’t seized the moment.
Brittney Griner Horror Highlighted Need For Higher WNBA Salaries To Keep Players Home In Offseason
With those failures, players have been forced to seek work elsewhere. This issue concerning the dangers for WNBA players going overseas to get a bag really became part of the national conversation when Phoenix Suns star Brittney Griner was imprisoned for nine months in a Russian jail for having vape cartridges in her bag at the airport returning home to the states after representing a Russian team in competition.
“We were promised team marketing agreements and league marketing agreements, but they’ve fallen quite short,” Williams added. “So it’s still not enough for us international players to want to stay here. And that’s a choice of the players. If I make a choice to make more money, whatever, and then teams are mad that I don’t come back, but that’s how it is.
“The WNBA, if you want us to be here, you have to pay us more. It’s business, it’s how it works, and that’s all that means,” Williams concluded.
Fans Critical Of WNBA’s Lack Of Caitlin Clark Promotion
According to many fans, the WNBA has spent more time trying to temper the explosive popularity of Caitlin Clark and forcefully highlight other players that people simply aren’t as interested in, instead of focusing on capitalizing off the historic rookie class and the new audience that their presence has afforded the league.
Williams is now an unrestricted free agent, and she hasn’t made an official decision on whether or not she will be returning to the WNBA or playing overseas.
Her point is valid. Sometimes you wonder what the league’s focus is right now, because its players are not happy about the fans, the commissioner (who was attacked weeks ago by several stars) the salary, the promotion or anything the higher-ups are putting into motion.
