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As Paige Bueckers officially enters the WNBA via the 2025 WNBA Draft tonight, some questions have been raised regarding the compensation for a superstar of her caliber. Specifically, comparisons have been made between the rookie contract that she'll be signing in the WNBA and the contract that she secured with another league.
During a media availability ahead of the Draft, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was asked about her thoughts on Buecker's Unrivaled contract reportedly having a higher value than her rookie WNBA deal. While Engelbert expressed pride in WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart for getting Unrivaled off the ground, she also pointed out the differences between the startup league and the WNBA:
"[There are] over 190 players that we need to take care of," Engelbert said of her league. "I know it's a lot easier to do 30 in one spot. We obviously travel the world and the U.S."
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Engelbert, who became Commissioner in 2019, is referring to the fact that Unrivaled held all its games within the lone location of the Wayfair Arena in Miami, whereas the WNBA has a wider geographic scope in terms of game venues.
The former Deloitte CEO expanded on the idea of scope by describing what else the WNBA is able to provide for its massive pool of athletes:
"What the WNBA offers is a huge platform to players," she added. "There is not one sporting event today where you don't see an ad spot with a WNBA player in it."
Engelbert cited Nike's 2025 Super Bowl ad, which featured the likes of A'ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark, and Sabrina Ionescu, as an example. She called ad spots like this "a great sign" of the WNBA's growth.
ESPN analyst on Paige Bueckers' dealings with Unrivaled: "It's a beautiful business move"
Meanwhile, hours before the WNBA Draft, the panelists of ESPN's "First Take" also called attention to the discrepancy between what Bueckers will be earning in a single season of Unrivaled versus the entirety of her four-year rookie contract.
In light of this, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith gave props to Bueckers for signing an NIL deal that would net her more earnings via equity in Unrivaled:
"It's a beautiful, beautiful business move on her part," Smith said of Bueckers. "She's showing not only that she's a champion on the court, but she has incredible potential to be a champion off the court as well, using the court to buffer her own cache." [Timestamp - 3:34]
As reports on Bueckers' net worth start to emerge over the next 12 months, she may very well end up as a model for fresh graduates who are just beginning to navigate the landscape of professional women's basketball.
