Shortly earlier than the Dallas Wings made her the No. 1 choose within the WNBA Draft, Paige Bueckers acquired a major payday from a unique skilled league.
Bueckers is signing a three-year contract with Unequalled — the 3-on-3 league co-founded by Liberty star Breanna Stewart — which she is going to compete in in the course of the WNBA offseasons, in keeping with ESPN.
She is reportedly set to earn extra within the first 12 months of her Unequalled contract than she is going to in the course of the entirety of her four-year WNBA rookie deal.
Requested Monday if her Unequalled contract would affect her want to be a rep within the Girls’s Nationwide Basketball Gamers Affiliation (WNBPA) as a rookie, Bueckers expressed an openness to collaborating.
“Those are conversations I’m continuing to have, what that looks like to be a player rep, but I definitely want to be in those rooms, have those conversations, be a voice for the players and stand up for us,” Bueckers stated at The Shed in Midtown Manhattan, shortly after being drafted.
“Just knowing what that takes and knowing what that will be if I do that, I think those are conversations I’m going to continue to have.”
Because the No. 1 choose, Bueckers is about to earn $78,831 as a WNBA rookie and $348,198 over the period of her first contract.
Bueckers had beforehand signed an NIL contract with Unequalled that gave her fairness within the league.
Responding to a query concerning the pay disparity between Bueckers’ offers, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert stated she was “really proud of what they’re doing there” at Unequalled.
“Of course, we’ll have, by the time we get done with [expanding to] 16 teams, over 190 players we need to take care of,” Engelbert stated throughout a pre-draft press convention.
“I know it’s a lot easier to do 30 [players] in one spot.”
Stewart co-created Unequalled with Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier in an effort to develop ladies’s basketball and supply a high-income, home platform for gamers to compete in in the course of the offseason.
The inaugural season kicked off this winter, with six groups of six gamers competing over 10 weeks. The league exceeded expectations by producing $27 million in income in its first season.
“It’s amazing, not only for the salaries to be similar or more than your WNBA salary, but to be able to build brand partnerships that can’t come into the W or the NBA,” Stewart instructed The Related Press final 12 months.
“It’s more than just an initial salary, but showing these companies who you are as a player.”
Bueckers is the newest big-name participant to hitch Unequalled, which counts Stewart, Collier, Sabrina Ionescu, Courtney Vandersloot, Angel Reese and Brittney Griner amongst its contributors.
“Anything that raises the game of women’s basketball, obviously, we support,” Engelbert stated. “And we are thrilled with the momentum we have coming off the NCAA season, coming off Unrivaled, but certainly thrilled with the viewership we have, and the momentum we have, and the capital coming into our league, as well as the investments our owners are making.”
Final week, Bueckers punctuated her adorned faculty profession by main UConn to a nationwide championship. The 23-year-old guard averaged 19.9 factors, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per sport in 2024-25.
Including Bueckers was a precedence for Unequalled, in keeping with ESPN, which studies the league additionally aspires to signal Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson.
“We’ve built an incredible foundation,” Unequalled president Alex Bazzell stated after the season.
“Based on what the viewership is, now it’s our job to — how do we grow that a bit? We’re very proud about where we stand in the women’s sports ecosystem of viewership. And what I’ve said all along is we’re not going to go out there and do WNBA numbers in Year 1.”
Initially Printed: April 14, 2025 at 7:03 PM EDT
