NBA salaries vs WNBA salaries

SI.com came out with the "Fortunate 50" a list of the 50 highest earning athletes of 2012 that combines the athletes' salary, winnings and endorsements throughout the past year. 

Of the 50 on the lists 13 were NBA basketball players with LeBron James coming in at No. 2 with $56.5 million dollars of total earning. Kobe Bryant came in at No.4 with $46.8 million dollars of total earning. Other NBA notables were Derrick Rose at No.7, Dwayne Wade at No. 11, Kevin Durant at

 No. 12, and Carmelo Anthony at No. 16. 

And for the fifth consecutive year the with no female athletes on the list.

So what the WNBA season beginning next month it got me wondering why how much do WNBA players get payed compared a NBA players?

The average salary for a NBA player is about $5 million dollars and average salary for a WNBA player is about $72,000 dollars. The NBA's minimum salary for a rookie is about $470,000 and for a WNBA rookie is about $35,000 dollars just about as much as a teacher makes.

Kobe Bryant made $27.8 million dollars just from his NBA salary last year in 2012. Tina Charles, the reigning WNBA MVP, can earn the league maximum of $105,000 dollars per year that’s just barely over six figures. 

Candace Parker now makes anywhere between $750,000 dollars to $1 million dollar each year but that includes her salary, sponsorship,endorsements and playing overseas.

The average NBA team's salary cap is about $55 million dollars for a WNBA team about $891,000 a role player coming off the bench in the NBA makes more money than that year.

Granted the WNBA has only been around for 17 years so they need more time to grow but the WNBA needs to get more high profile people in ownership especially women like Oprah or Beyonce. Even someone like LeBron who already is part of the Liverpool soccer club or Magic Johnson who is part owner of the L.A. Dodgers should get involved with a WNBA teams.

With players like Candace Parker and Skylar Diggins that young, beautiful, great players who be marketed very easily its going to interesting to see how the WNBA grows in the next few years.