Equal Pay For Equal Work? Not Yet

What’s the difference between Caitlin Clark and Victor Wembanyama?

They are both once-in-a-generation basketball superstars. They are both first-round draft picks, Clark by the Indiana Fever of the WNBA for the upcoming season, and Wembanyama by the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA for this past season. They are both so exceptional – not just for their basketball abilities, but for their box office draw and their personal appeal – that the decision to make each of them the #1 pick was never in question. Not for one minute.

And they are both, barring injuries, going to set records, raise the bar, and leave a legacy. That last statement might be a subjective speculation, but take it from this old sports fan who’s been watching professional sports since 1951, basketball since 1954. Oscar Robertson? Elgin Baylor? Jerry West? Wilt Chamberlain? Bill Russell? Larry Bird? Magic Johnson? Karl Malone? Michael Jordan? Lebron James?

Caitlin Clark and Victor Wembanyama: Future Legends Today

Add both Clark and Wembanyama to that list. In fact, they’ve come into their respective leagues with at least as much anticipation as any of the aforementioned legends.

So then, what, actually, is the difference between them?

About $54,661,944. That’s what.

No kidding. Clark, who set the all-time NCAA Division I career scoring record for men or women, comes into the professional ranks from the University of Iowa with unsurpassed credentials. She’s been where no other player before her has ever been. That goes for all the great ones mentioned above, and it goes for Victor Wembanyama, too, although Wembanyama, from France, brings something else. He’s 7’4” with a complete set of skills. You know what they say: you can’t teach height. And when you’re 7”4” and you can also shoot threes, handle the ball, and play good defense, you’re a game changer.

Gender Pay Inequality

But here’s the ground level on this. Wembanyama signed a four-year deal for $55,000,000. Clark got $338,056. Not annually. For her first four years combined.

Let’s put it in digestible terms. At $55 million for four years, Wembanyama’s annual salary is $13,750,000. Based on an 82-game regular season schedule (we can’t calculate playoffs in this exercise), that amounts to $167,683. Per game! Victor Wembanyama will make the equivalent of Clark’s 4-year contract … in two games.

Follow Megan Rapinoe’s Lead

Megan Rapinoe, where are you when we need you? Or shall we ask, who will be the WNBA’s Rapinoe? Rapinoe’s leadership in straightening out the pay inequity between men’s and women’s professional soccer should be fresh in our memory. Year after year, World Cup after World Cup, Olympics after Olympics, the USA women outperformed the USA men, but what did they get for it?

Until Rapinoe took that bull by the horns (Or shall we say, took that BS by the horns?), the women got paid a fraction of the men’s salaries, traveled less luxuriously, stayed less comfortably, and shared in less of the revenues.

For sure, the math of the available pot of money is easy to understand. The NBA generates annual revenues of $10 billion, while the WNBA scrapes by at $200 million. That’s a 50:1 ratio, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough to justify Wembanyama’s 164:1 multiplier over Clark in the salary column.

Again, Megan Rapinoe, where are you? Or: Megan, do you know anyone else who’s willing and able to replicate your success?

If there’s a bright side here, expect Clark to run the table on endorsements. She’s got it all: unmatched accomplishments, off-the-charts skills, smarts, unblemished image, great public persona, star power, and role model for millions of girls – and boys – you name it. She’s already racked up a $20 million deal (probably with additional bonuses) with Nike. And who knows what’s to come? Additionally, within two hours after being drafted by Indiana, sales of her Fever jersey broke the sales record of any jersey in any sport.

Well, OK for Caitlin Clark, but what about the rest of the WNBA or any other women’s sports? Equal pay? Still a fantasy – until a couple more superstars and visionary leaders show up.