With the CBA negotiations still hot between the WNBA players and the league, salaries and being paid what they are worth has become the theme for the players considered to be the best in the world at what they do.
Candace Parker is a living WNBA legend, who played 16 seasons in the WNBA, including 13 for the Los Angeles Sparks. She has a trove of accolades; two MVP awards, one Defensive Player of the Year trophy and was named the Finals MVP twice. The current NBA analyst is also a seven-time WNBA All-Star, the 2013 WNBA All-Star Game MVP and a seven-time First Team All-WNBA member.
Candace Parker Never Felt Like A WNBA Star Because Pay Was So Low
However, despite being recognized as a Top 5 all-time force, Parker recently admitted that she never felt like a star because the money wasn’t right. Where she did get the bag and the star treatment she craved for her hard work was overseas in the Russian League during the WNBA offseason.
We’ve heard the endless stories from WNBA players about having to go overseas in the offseason just to make ends meet because WNBA salaries were not going to sustain them financially throughout the year. During an August 13 episode of her “Post Moves” podcast with Aliyah Boston, Parker shared a strong stance about the WNBA’s pay — and listed some of her perks from playing in Russia as an example.
“In Russia, we had chefs. We had amazing apartments. We had drivers. We flew charter. We traveled around Europe as the No.1 team and were compensated as such. My black diamonds are from Russia. They were given to me as a birthday gift. My daughter got black diamonds, I got a Rolex watch,” Parker boasted.
Candace Parker Played Six Offseasons In Russia Making Over $1M Per
Parker was the Sparks’ No.1 overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft out of Tennessee and immediately captivated the league, becoming the first WNBA player to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP award in the same season. Even the No. 1 player in the league had to go to Russia, as the country paid millions to import American talent.
From 2010 to 2015, Parker played for UMMC Ekaterinburg in the Russian Premier League, leading the squad to five straight Russian National League titles, four consecutive Russian Cups and the Euroleague championship in 2013.
“I mean, the amount of gifts that I got from our owners in Russia, and I think that it just makes you feel welcome and makes you feel like you are one of the top players and you are treated as such,” she added.
A 2011 Los Angeles Times article said that Parker’s contract with UMMC Ekaterinburg, was worth $1.2 million per season. WNBA All-time scoring leader Diana Taurasi retired last season after two decades in the WNBA. She’s the only woman to surpass the 10K scoring mark and it is reported she made an additional $1.5 million salary per offseason, playing with the same Russian team.
Parker earned no more than $195,000 (peak) per season during her WNBA career. Reports say that from 2016 to 2023, which are her final eight seasons in the league, she made just $1,062,500, which is what she could earn in one season in Russia.
WNBA Players Make Peanuts Compared To Overseas
Now that Parker is a big-time NBA analyst with a net worth of close to $10M and getting paid significantly better than she did when she was a WNBA player, when she reflects black on her career, her gripe with the WNBA is love. All of the greats are underpaid, even now, where no player makes more than $250K per season. The average salary is less than $150K. Caitlin Clark’s rookie contract, a four-year, $338,056 contract with a base salary of $85,400 per, has been the subject of plenty of scrutiny and criticism considering how much revenue she has brought into the league via merchandise, television ratings and attendance and overall visibility.
Parker Seems Bitter About Lack Of Love She Got From WNBA During Her Illustrious Career: Family Treated Like Royalty In Russia
Parker also didn’t seem to get the love she wanted and felt she deserved from the league and some of the coaches for what she brought to the game. Parker expresses how she was showered with expensive gifts and luxurious items of appreciation while in Russia. But that’s what happens when a country hires you from across the world to come in and help them win a championship. Any Russian team that Parker leads to a championship is going to make the money they are paying her to play overseas back ten times just off Parker’s presence on the team.
That’s a guaranteed profit. Which differs from the WNBA, a league that has lost an average of $40M per year for some time now. Even with the recent explosion of women’s sports, ratings and attendance and merchandising and social media visibility, the $2B media rights deal that they pieced off the NBA’s $76B deal will have to be dispersed cautiously as the market is up and down. With superstars such as Angel Reese and Clark out for extended periods of time with injuries, ratings have dipped across the board, as the two main instigators of this women’s hoops explosion are not able to take the court.
The salaries may not be what the players want just yet, but there is no doubt that the increased visibility has helped players form brands, gain notoriety and make money off the court. Life is a hustle and it’s great to be worshiped, but like Candace Parker experienced, you might have to leave the country to do it.
Parker Criticized WNBA All-Stars For Missed Opportunity With Poor 2025 Game
It is good to see Parker sticking up for the current generation and sharing stories of the challenges faced by pioneers as they built the league to this point over the last 32 years. She was very critical of Boston and her WNBA All-Star teammates for the show they put on this season in Indianapolis. Calling it “awful” at some points and saying the league missed an opportunity to make a statement — in addition to the “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts — as collective bargaining agreement negotiations are ongoing.
