The 2026 WNBA offseason is well underway now that a new CBA is finally in place. WNBA players will receive significant raises across the board in 2026 as the salary cap increases from $1.5 million in 2025 to $7 million in 2026. One former WNBA player was recently confronted with how much she would have earned if she started her career today.
Candace Parker had a classy reaction when she learned how much she would have earned as a player under the new WNBA CBA. Her co-host, Fever star Aliyah Boston, noted that Parker would have earned at least $774,000 in bonuses.
“Yeah, that’s crazy, but you know what it is crazy honestly. I say this completely like, would I have loved to play today? 100%. I would’ve loved to play forever,” Parker said on Sunday via her Post Moves podcast. “Like Steph Curry said when he signed that, whatever $40 million contract and everybody was going crazy. I think the cream rises to the top. Yeah basketball in between the lines is not going to get it, but you’re going to hear from me. You’re going to hear from me on the private equity, and the investments, and all that stuff. I’m going to get that back, two fold.”
Parker earned just over $1 million during the final eight seasons of her 15-year professional career. She is glad that WNBA players no longer have to work extra hard to earn the same wage.
“It’s crazy the amount of zeros that are behind, but I’m happy for y’all,” Parker added. “Like, you don’t have to work 700 jobs. I had to work 700 jobs to make a living. So congrats on only having to work one.”
It is great to see how much the W has grown over the past few years.
