On a recent podcast appearance, Las Vegas Aces all-star guard Kelsey Plum explained some of the flaws around the discourse over equal pay in professional basketball. The former sixth woman of the year said she “doesn't think she should be paid as much as LeBron [James]” but wants WNBA players to receive comparable shares of revenue NBA players get.
“We’re not asking to get paid what the men get paid,” she said. “We’re asking to get paid the same percentage of revenue shared.”
“In the NBA, they have percentages of revenue shared for the players — so, jersey sales, obviously their TV contracts,” Plum said. “But that’s because their CBA negotiates, where the owners are making certain types of money, [the players] get that as well. In the WNBA, that’s not the case.”
Her comments are reminiscent to what her teammate A'ja Wilson tweeted in 2018 when LeBron James signed a four-year, $154 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.
154M ……….. must. be. nice. We over here looking for a M 🙃 but Lord, let me get back in my lane pic.twitter.com/IFDZLlI53z
— A'ja Wilson (@_ajawilson22) July 2, 2018
Like many WNBA players and media alike, Plum emphasized how the two leagues are at different points in their growth and how it is a useless exercise to compare them.
“We’re young. We’re only 25 years in, the NBA is at 100,” she said. “Where we’re at, at 25, we’re way past where the NBA was. We don’t forget that though, we compare where we’re at now to where the NBA is now.
“My goal is, by the time I leave the league I would like to see it a lot better than I found it,” she said. “I’m here to ruffle some feathers. If you want change, you’ve got to be able to see the change. If I have to take a couple of shots for someone else to be able to [do something], I’m all for it.”
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