The Indiana Fever captured their first-ever Commissioner’s Cup title with a dominant 74–59 win over the Minnesota Lynx on July 1. Even with star Caitlin Clark sidelined due to injury, the Fever surged back from an early deficit with a stifling second-quarter performance, holding the Lynx scoreless for over eight minutes. Natasha Howard led the charge with a double-double and was named Cup MVP, while four other Fever players also scored in double figures.
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The victory marked a major milestone for the franchise, proving they’re serious contenders in the league. But the heap of prize money proved to be a key talking point in the matchup’s aftermath. The Fever will split $500,000 among team members, plus bonus money from Cup sponsor Coinbase. For winning MVP, Natasha Howard took home an extra $5k.
Considering the Commissioner’s Cup is merely an in-season tournament for the WNBA, Caitlin Clark believed the hefty payout was too generous. The Fever star pointed out that it’s confusing and unfair that players can earn more from this midseason tournament than from winning the league championship at the end of the season.
LA Sparks guard Rae Burrell echoed Clark’s sentiment during her interview with Sports Illustrated. “It doesn’t make sense, does it? Like, you would think the championship of the whole entire thing, you’d get [more],” she said. “It doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s obviously a conversation that needs to be had among other things.”
Host Mariah Clifton pointed out that players who win the Commissioner’s Cup are presented with $30k in cash and an extra few thousand in Bitcoin, adding up to about $35k. Meanwhile, players who take home the WNBA Championship only earn a $27k bonus. It’s a stark contrast, considering a champion is much more celebrated.
“I’m definitely with Caitlin with that. It should not be like that,” Burrell said adamantly. Women’s basketball stars have long been looking for a pay increase in order to live a more luxurious lifestyle reminiscent of their NBA counterparts. But not like this. They simply want to be fairly compensated for what they earn.
Like most athletes, WNBA players believe their biggest achievements should feature the biggest rewards. The league’s current payout structure goes directly against that idea. Few will recall who won the 2025 Commissioner’s Cup compared to the number that will revere the team that holds the championship trophy at the end of the summer.
The W still has several issues to address, as Burrell hinted at during her interview, but this issue should be an easy fix. If the league pays the actual champions more appropriately, this problem can quickly become a thing of the past.
