Shaquille O’Neal believes that the time has come for WNBA players to receive the same pay as their male counterparts. He credits the stellar display of rookie stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese as the driving force for this movement of change.
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Shaq sat down with USA Today to discuss the WNBA and the impact that Reese and Clark have had on the sport. Shaq has been watching women’s basketball closely, but he has special interest in the 2024 WNBA Rookie class.
He pointed out how Reese and Clark have completely transformed the women’s game with revamped ratings and unprecedented viewership. Therefore, now it’s time to reap the rewards.
“Now it’s time for equal pay. They’ve always been great, but the space they’re in now, it’s time for everybody to be getting equal pay. I would love to see one of them make $10, 15, 20 million a year, they deserve it,” said Shaq.
Shaq took Reese under his wing after her brilliance in the 2023 NCAA Final. Since then, they’ve built a close bond.
O’Neal went to support Reese at the Sky’s final matchup against Clark and the Indiana Fever. After the game, the NBA legend couldn’t help but give Clark her flowers.
“When I see stuff on TV I’m like, OK, I’d like to see it in person. Well, I saw it in person…She can play … from a basketball standpoint, she makes all the right plays, gets everybody involved and she has that Steph Curry (shooting) range.”
Clark and Reese have been catalysts in the sudden surge in popularity of the WNBA. According to ESPN, this season was the most viewed across ESPN’s platforms with an average of 1.2 million viewers per game. That marks a 170% increase from 2023.
However, Shaq implored fans to continue supporting the league. He thinks that’s the only way for the athletes to be paid deservingly.
“But the fans have to continue to support … you gotta keep (going) to the games, buying merch, you gotta keep doing all that stuff and the more they do that, the more they’ll get paid,” Shaq added.
There has always been a wage gap separating the NBA and WNBA, which has mainly been due to the difference in popularity of the two leagues. However, since that gap is now slowly closing, Shaq thinks that the gap in wages needs to close too.
According to Statista, the average annual NBA salary for the 2023-24 season was over $12 million. On the other hand, the average annual WNBA salary for the 2023-24 season was $116.58k. There isn’t a single player in the WNBA making seven figures annually.
Voices such as Shaq’s hold enough weight to continue to influence the movement of eventually getting these athletes the contracts they deserve.
