Staff Reports
Angel Reese’s recent comments about WNBA salaries and comparisons to LeBron James have reignited the debate over pay equity in professional sports. While Reese’s ambition and advocacy for women’s basketball are commendable, her assertion that she should earn the same as LeBron James reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of how the sports marketplace works—and why the NBA and WNBA operate on vastly different economic realities.
Let’s get one thing straight: LeBron James is not just a basketball player; he’s a global icon whose talent and marketability have helped generate billions for the NBA. His on-court salary for the 2024-25 season is nearly $49 million, and his total annual earnings, including endorsements, top $128 million. In contrast, Angel Reese’s WNBA salary for 2025 is $74,909, with her off-court endorsements bringing her total annual income to around $1.5 million—a figure that dwarfs her league paycheck but is still a fraction of LeBron’s earnings. This isn’t about gender; it’s about economics, performance, and the draw each athlete brings to their respective leagues.
The NBA is a financial juggernaut, with teams valued in the billions and annual revenues exceeding $10 billion. The WNBA, despite recent gains in viewership, is still expected to lose $50 million this year and relies heavily on NBA subsidies to stay afloat. Even with record-breaking ratings and surging interest, the WNBA’s media deals are a fraction of what the NBA commands. The reality is simple: the market pays for what it values. LeBron James fills arenas, drives merchandise sales, and attracts millions of viewers worldwide. Angel Reese, while a rising star, plays in a league where even the most-watched games barely approach the NBA’s regular season averages.
Some will argue that the solution is simply to pay women more, regardless of revenue. But that’s not how any business—let alone professional sports—works. Salaries are determined by revenue, demand, and the ability to draw fans and sponsors. If Reese and her WNBA peers want NBA-level pay, they need to bring NBA-level audiences and revenues. The cold, hard truth is that fans vote with their wallets and their attention, and so far, the numbers just don’t support equal pay between the leagues.
It’s also worth noting the performance gap. While Reese is a talented player, her stats and impact are nowhere near LeBron’s, and the physical differences between men’s and women’s basketball are well-documented. The idea that WNBA players should be paid like NBA stars, absent the same athletic output and market demand, is not just unrealistic—it undermines the merit-based system that rewards the very best, regardless of gender.
In the end, Angel Reese’s advocacy should focus on growing the WNBA’s product, building its fanbase, and increasing its revenue streams. That’s the only sustainable path to higher salaries and greater recognition. Demanding NBA-level pay without NBA-level performance or revenue is not a call for fairness—it’s a demand to ignore the free market. If women’s sports want to close the pay gap, the answer isn’t to tear down the men’s game, but to build up their own. That’s how real progress is made.
