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After weeks of tense negotiations, the Women’s National Basketball Association reached a new collective bargaining agreement. The deal marks a major turning point in player earnings across the league, Daily Mail reported.

Clark, who was selected as the number one overall pick by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 draft, quickly became the face of the league.

However, during her first two seasons, she only earned a base salary of around $85,000 per year.

That figure was widely considered low compared to her commercial value and global appeal.

The vast majority of Clark’s income came from lucrative off-court sponsorship deals. Most notably, she signed a landmark eight-year contract with Nike, reportedly worth $28 million.

Under the new agreement, Clark’s base salary will skyrocket to $528,000 for the 2026 season. This represents a staggering 521% increase from her 2025 earnings.

The massive bump comes from a newly introduced special clause dubbed “exceptional performance on initial contract.”

This specific clause allows players to maximize their earnings within the first four years of their rookie deals. It also opens the door for Clark to potentially play just one more season under her current rookie contract before becoming eligible for an extension with a higher salary.

Players qualify for this lucrative clause by winning the MVP award or earning an All-WNBA team selection within their first three seasons. Given her trajectory, Clark is universally expected to meet these criteria.

Clark is not the only player cashing in on the historic agreement. Aliyah Boston saw her salary jump from $94,000 to an impressive $574,000. Paige Bueckers experienced a raise from $80,000 to $500,000, while Angel Reese’s pay increased from $75,000 to $350,000.

Boston, Clark’s teammate at Indiana Fever, is expected to be the highest-paid player in the WNBA for the 2026 season. Dallas’s Diamond Miller is projected to rank second in earnings, with Clark sitting in third.

Despite the historic agreement, the earnings of top WNBA stars still lag far behind those of male athletes in the NBA.

For the 2025-2026 season, the NBA salary cap is set to reach a staggering $154.6 million per team. The average NBA player salary hovers around $10.5 million, while the minimum wage for an NBA rookie is set at $1.27 million.

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors remains the highest-paid star in the men’s league, earning an estimated $59.6 million per year. He is closely followed by Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, who both pull in around $55.2 million per season.

Other stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Davis and Jayson Tatum also boast annual salaries exceeding $54 million.

This stark contrast highlights that while the WNBA has undergone a significant financial transformation, the income disparity between the two premier basketball leagues remains immense.