After the WNBA wrapped up Day 1 of the All-Star Weekend, the Dream’s Allisha Gray went home the night’s biggest winner. After winning both the three-point contest and the skill challenge, Gray took home the whole pot of prize money which amounted to about $115,150, which also happens to be two-thirds of her salary with the Atlanta Dream.

Sports media page ‘Sporting News’ even put up a post showing how much Gray makes in a year with the Dream[ $185,000] and the amount she won in a single day over the All-Star Weekend [$ 115,000]. The discrepancy between the two amounts was enough to convey the reality of the pay situation in the WNBA.

Even NBA legend Isiah Thomas took notice of the post and seemed to agree with the message being put forth. He showed his support for Gray and the WNBA by posting the graphic to his Instagram story. Considering that Zeke has 650,000 plus followers on the platform, his message is bound to reach the masses.

Keeping aside the message, Gray’s performance on the night was truly historic in that she became the first player to win both the skills challenge and the three-point challenge on the same night. The sharpshooter even had the league’s best player rooting for her, as her South Carolina teammate A’ja Wilson was seen wearing matching eyeware to Gray’s.

But with Clark and Reese bringing major eyeballs to the league, and the W also getting an increase in corporate sponsorship it’s surprising to see how little they make in comparison to their NBA counterparts. For context, the NBA’s lowest-paid player [Mouhamed Gueye of the Atlanta Hawks] makes about $1,119,563 a season. Gueye makes almost 10 times the amount Gray does and hasnt even logged 1/100th the play time Gray has. This fact makes one ask why is there such a huge pay gap between the two leagues, and it is justified?

Why is there a huge discrepancy in pay between the NBA and WNBA

Right off the bat, there are some realities that every basketball fan looking for equality in the two leagues has to contend with. The WNBA has never turned a profit, while the NBA makes billions in profits every year. Just last year the NBA paid $15 million to the WNBA to maintain its running costs and that’s just one of the many payments made yearly to the W by commissioner Adam Silver.

With the league posting new highs in attendance, viewership, and TV ratings it’s hard to argue that the players shouldn’t get some financial benefit for the league’s growth. The first reform that can take place is actually through the players’ renegotiating for a higher percentage in revenue sharing. This will help set the tone for the upcoming CBA rule change and in time will help develop a more pro-player league.

For now, the W seems to be treading forward at a pace of growth that will ensure that it becomes a global phenomenon. But if the league doesn’t start paying its players better, the day is not far that the best talents in the sport will no longer play in the WNBA, Instead they will take their talents overseas where the labour laws ensure that they are paid fairly.